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THE  MACCAB^AN  MAGAZINE 

Devoted  To  Zionism  and  All  Jewish  Interests 

VOL.  XXV.  November-December,   1914.  No.   5. 

Published   Monthly  for  the  Federation   of  American   Zionists  by 
THE  MACCABiEAN  MAGAZINE,  44  E.  23rd  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Editorial   Board:      Charles   A.    Cowen,   Chairman;    Bernard   A.    Rosenblatt,   Israel 
Goldberg,    Hyman   Segal,   Joseph   L.    Cohen   and   David   Schneeberg. 

CONTENTS 

Review  of  the  Month 154      Zionism  as  an  Expression  of  Jew- 
ish Patriotism 168 

Let   Us  Not  Lose  Courage 156  (By  Dr.  David  de  Sola  Pool) 

(By  Louis  Lipsky) 

Hadassah  at  St.  Paul 179 

A  Call  for  the  Shekel 158      m     „  «,         „ 

To  Melt  or  Not  to  Melt 180 

(By  M.  Simon) 
Democracy    159 

(By   Dr.    Franz    Oppenheimer)  An  Evening  with  Achad  Ha-am .  .  .    182 

(By  Joseph  L.  Cohen) 
The   Freedom  of  the  Jew   (Poem)    164 

(By  Victor  Coen)  «The  Nation"  on  Zionism 186^ 

(By  Horace  M.   Kallen) 

The  Western  Cedar  (Poem) 164 

(By  Victor  Coen)  Palestine  and  the  War 192 

(By  Helene  Hanna   Cohn) 

Lights  in  the  Darkness 165 

(By  Israel  Goldberg)  Within  the  Ranks 193 


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"ZIONISM" 

By  Prof.  Richard  Gottheil 

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Nathan  Straus 


Mr.  Straus'  efforts  on  behalf  of  Palestine  have  been  notable.  His 
contributions,  as  far  as  is  known,  for  this  year  amount  to  $75,000,  of 
which  $25,000  was  given  to  the  Provisional  Committee  to  relieve 
Palestinian  distress,  $15,000  to  the  Health  Bureau  and  the  balance 
to  maintain  the  Palestinian  activities  and  immediate  distress  created 
by  the  war.  Mr.  Straus  has  rendered  in  other  ways  valuable  assist- 
ance to  the  Provisional  Committee. 


The 


£MA£ABAEAN$ 


Vol.  XXV. 


NOVEMBER-DECEMBER,    1914 


No.  5. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  MONTH 


Acute  Distress  in  Palestine 

Cablegrams  have  been  received  here 
by  the  Zionist  organization  describing 
the  acute  distress  that  prevails  in  Pales- 
tine. The  population  has  been  cut  off 
from  its  markets.  All  imports  have 
ceased,  owing  to  the  war.  No  money 
is  being  received  from  abroad,  for  the 
Russian,  Galician  and  German  Jews 
have  troubles  of  their  own  without  end. 
In  the  schools  where  Jewish  lads  from 
Europe  attend,  the  children  have  be- 
come dependents  upon  the  Jewish  popu- 
lation. The  Bezalel  is  unable  to  dis- 
pose of  its  products.  Hunger  is  immi- 
nent, for  the  amount  of  food  in  the 
country  is  sufficient  only  for  not  more 
than  six  weeks.  In  short,  the  entire 
settlement,  rich  and  poor,  is  threatened 
with  destruction  more  effective  than 
anything  that  can  be  imagined  to  be 
taking  place  in  Europe.  For  Palestine 
has  no  hinterland  to  fall  back  upon. 
It  has  no  resources.  Arabia  or  Persia 
are  not  in  a  position  to  come  to  its  res- 
cue with  food.  What  confronts  Ameri- 
can Jewry  is,  therefore,  the  maintain- 
ing of  Palestine  through  this  crisis  in 
its  affairs.  Only  America  can  save  what 
we  have  built  up  during  the  past  thirty 
years.  While  the  distress  in  Galicia 
and  Poland  is  terrible,  at  least  over 
there  one  may  expect  the  general  re- 
sources of  the  country  to  be  used  to 
relieve  distress.  It  is  possible  to  find 
relief  somewhere.  But  Palestine  is 
utterly  dependent  upon  outside  help, 
and  that  outside  help  is  limited,  owing 
to  the  internal  obligations  of  all  the 
lands  at  war,  where  over  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  Jewish  people  reside,  to 
the  two  million  or  more  Jews  resident 
in  America.  We  are  glad  to  note  that 
that    American    Jews    as    a    whole    are 


aware  of  the  obligation  that  rests  upon 
them.  Zionist  or  non-Zionist,  all  are 
agreed  that  the  saving  of  Jewish  Pales- 
tine is  an  affair  of  great  Jewish  im- 
portance. It  is  not  only  the  one  hun- 
dred thousand  Jews  who  must  be  saved, 
but  the  thriving  settlement  created  by 
the  vigorous  Jewish  consciousness. 
What  we  have  created  in  Palestine 
must  be  saved  not  only  for  the  sake 
of  the  individuals  concerned,  but  also 
for  the  sake  of  Jewry  at  large.  In  the 
work  of  relief,  the  American  Jewish 
Relief  Committee  is  co-operating  with 
the  Provisional  Committee,  and  the 
Central  Relief  Committee  has  also 
given  a  good  proportion  of  its  collec- 
tions for  Palestine  relief.  A  proposi- 
tion has  been  made  to  ship  foodstuffs 
to  Palestine  by  an  American  or  Italian 
boat,  to  return  to  this  country  with 
Palestinian  oranges.  Should  it  become 
possible  to  send  a  ship  of  foodstuffs  to 
Palestine,  an  appeal  will  be  made  to 
all  Jews  to  help  in  filling  the  boat.  We 
have  no  doubt  that  when  such  an  appeal 
is  issued,  American  Jewry  will  respond 
generously. 

Turkey  a   Party  to  the  War 

After  a  great  deal  of  deliberation, 
Turkey  has  declared  itself  an  ally  of 
Germany  and  Austria  and  has  taken  up 
arms  against  Russia  and  England.  The 
decision  to  enter  the  conflict  must  have 
been  the  subject  of  serious  thought  for 
some  time,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that 
urgent  national  policy  dictated  this 
move.  The  danger  to  Turkish  interests 
should  Russia  and  its  allies  prevail  over 
Germany  and  Austria  must  have  occu- 
pied a  large  part  of  its  decision.  To 
have  remained  passive  while  Russia 
grew    in    power   in   the   Balkans   would 


154 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


have  meant  acquiescence  with  a  situa- 
tion which  would  probably  have  led  to 
further  dismemberment  of  this  much 
dismembered  empire.  Further,  to  have 
refused  the  urgent 'demands  of  the  Ger- 
mans, who  insisted  that  Turkey  move 
against  England  in  Egypt  and  Russia 
in  the  Caucasus,  would  have  meant  the 
loss  of  the  one  friend  Turkey  had  in 
Europe.  Turkey  would  have  preferred 
to  remain  neutral,  if  it  had  felt  that 
so  far  as  its  own  interests  were  con- 
cerned the  status  quo  before  the  war 
could  be  maintained.  It  is  obvious  to 
all  observers,  however,  that  such  a  de- 
sirable consummation  was  impossible. 
Thus,  Turkey,  plagued  for  many  years 
by  the  friendships  of  the  European  pow- 
ers, unable  to  move  forward  or  back- 
ward, owing  to  the  stiff  balance  main- 
tained by  the  nations  ostensibly  friend- 
ly to  its  interests,  enters  the  war  with 
its  depleted  resources,  and  is  now  fight- 
ing for  its  existence.  It  would  have 
lost  either  way,  but  siding  with  Ger- 
many against  its  great  enemy  Russia,  it 
at  least  stands  a  chance  of  sharing  the 
fate  of  Germany.  For  us  Jews,  this 
is  a  calamity,  for  without  doubt  a  peace- 
ful Turkey,  free  from  foreign  entan- 
glements, would  have  made  possible 
our  best  hopes.  We  feel  that  in  Tur- 
key we  have  a  good  friend,  capable  of 
understanding  our  pacific  ideals,  and 
willing  to  be  of  assistance  in  our  up- 
hill work.  True,  many  remnants  of 
medieval  days  still  remain  on  the  stat- 
ute books  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  but 
these,  we  have  no  doubt,  would  have 
been  eradicated.  The  entry  of  Turkey 
into  the  European  slaughter  may  have 
been  a  sad  necessity  for  Turkey,  but,  for 
us,  it  means  the  beginning  of  a  new- 
changed  condition  in  Palestine.  It  is 
impossible  at  this  time  to  discuss  the 
probable  benefits  to  be  derived  and  the 
possible  impediments  that  may  arise  in 
the  path  of  Zionism. 

What  Is  Neutrality? 

A  great  deal  of  hypocrisy  is  covered 
by  the  demand  that  Americans  main- 
tain neutrality  toward  the  nations  now 
at  war.  The  American  newspapers  are 
desperately  "fair"  to  Germany,  but  in- 
asmuch as  much  of  their  news  comes 
from  English  sources,  that  is  an  intel- 


lectual impossibility.  And  while  every 
now  and  then  one  of  them  stoutly  prates 
of  neutrality,  special  writers  and  un- 
professional correspondents  make  the 
pages  ring  with  denunciations  of  san- 
guinary Germany.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  thousands  who  favor  a  lip- 
neutrality,  but  have  no  objections  to  the 
sending  of  guns  and  ammunition,  of 
food  stuffs,  to  the  countries  now  at  war, 
for  that  is  business.  Contraband  of 
war,  according  to  the  rules  of  law,  must 
not  be  sent  from  a  neutral  country  to  a 
nation  at  war.  But  if  the  neutral  gov- 
ernment does  its  duty  and  guards  its 
ports  against  the  shipping  of  contra- 
band, and  a  ship  manages  to  elude  its 
vigilance,  the  goods  are  subject  to  con- 
fiscation, notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  carrier  flies  the  neutral's  flag.  It  is 
then  up  to  the  belligerent  country  to 
establish  an  efficient  blockade,  but  the 
neutral  government  has  done  its  full 
duty.  This  sort  of  neutrality  is  what 
many  lip-neutrals  want  to  see  estab- 
lished. They  would  like  to  see  the 
United  States  wink  an  eye  when  in 
search  of  illegal  traffic  with  the  belliger- 
ent nations.  They  will  do  the  rest. 
There  are  the  English  and  French  mar- 
kets; Holland  and  Italy  are  useful  to 
Germany.  But  what  results  is  a  breach 
of  neutrality  against  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria, for  these  countries  cannot  main- 
tain their  rights  at  sea.  They  have  no 
power  there,  and  England  and  France 
are  now  the  masters  of  the  sea.  Ships 
bound  for  England  have  easy  going. 
Ships  going  to  Holland  or  Italy  are  eas- 
ily intercepted  by  England.  As  a  result, 
Germany  protests  against  the  neutrality 
which  favors  its  enemy,  and  England 
seems  eminently  satisfied,  for  it  prac- 
tically controls  every  thing  going  into 
any  of  the  European  ports.  To  send 
arms  and  ammunition  and  equipment 
for  the  army  to  any  of  the  nations  at 
war  is,  however,  morally  a  breach  of 
neutrality,  no  matter  what  the  law  may 
be;  and  President  Wilson  is  certainly 
acting  in  the  spirit  of  his  utterances 
when  he  declares  against  the  sending  of 
cannon  from  this  country  to  France  or 
England.  If  we  are  to  refrain  from 
expressing  sympathy,  at  least  let  us 
not  push  the  cannon  near  to  the  war- 
riors. 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


155 


Our  Own   Neutrality 

It  is   not  so   simple  for  the  Jews  of 
America   to   keep   mum   with  regard  to 
what  they  conceive  to  be  Jewish  inter- 
ests in  the  war.     As  Zionists,  of  course, 
we  are,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word, 
neutrals  with  no  special  interest  affected 
by  the  success  or  failure  of  either  side. 
But  as  an  American  Jew,  it  is  natural 
for  Mr.   Jacob   H.   Schiff   to   speak  with 
feeling   of   his   suspicion   that   Germany 
is  not  being  fairly  treated.      It  is  also 
understandable  why  the  Yiddish  news- 
papers    have     come     out     so     strongly 
against  Russia.     Had  the  war  been  lim- 
ited to  Germany  and   Russia,  our  neu- 
trality would  have  been  thrown  to  the 
winds,   for  who   wishes   to  see   Russian 
re-action  further  extended;    who  would 
like  to  see  Russia  acquire  Galicia  with 
its  large  Jewish  population?      It  would 
not  have  mattered  that  Germany  has,  as 
has  been  said,  given  anti-Semitism  the 
benefit  of  its  organizing  skill,  and  for- 
mulated a   philosophy  of   anti-Semitism 
and     formal     prejudice     against     Jews. 
Between    the    two    no   one   would   have 
questioned  from  which  side  Jews  would 
derive  the  most  benefit.     Unfortunately, 
France  and  England  are  involved,   and 
now   Turkey   is   also  involved,   so   that, 
from  every  point  of  view,  it  is  probably 
better  for  us  to  refrain  from  weighing 
our    sympathies    and    moving    with   the 
turn  of  the  balance.     It  was. singularly 
inappropriate  for  Dr.   Richard  Gottheil, 
who  is  officially  connected  with  the  Zion- 
ist organization,  being  an  advisory  mem- 
ber   of    the    Provisional    Committee,    to 
speak   so   freely  of  his  sympathies,   en- 
tering into  an   expression   of  friendship 
for  Russia,  at  a  time  when  we  Zionists 
are  bound  in  honor,  for  the  sake  of  our 
comrades  in   Germany,   if  for  no  other 
reason,  to  remain  silent.     Certainly  Dr. 
Gottheil  will  not  find  his  views  shared 
by  the  majority  of  the  Provisional  Com- 
mittee, and  he  has  no  right  to  give  pub- 
lic utterance  to  his  views  at  this  rime, 
unless    he    has    had    an    understanding 
with  the  Provisional  Committee,  which, 
we  have  ground  for  saying,  has  never 
been  given  to  him.     Dr.  Gottheil  should 
have  been   more  keenly  sensible  of  his 
responsibility  as  a  Zionist. 


The  Atrocities  in  Poland 

Georg  Brandes,  a  friend  of  the  Pol- 
ish people,  has  written  an  indignant  ar- 
ticle, which  appeared  in  Der  To:{,  pro- 
testing against  the.  inhuman  treatment 
of  the  Polish  Jews  by  the  Poles  in  Gali- 
cia and  Russia.  He  gives  accurate  <le- 
scriptions  of  how  the  Poles  betrayed 
Jews  to  rhe  Russians,  when  their  armies 
arrived  in  Poland,  and  then,  in  the  same 
manner,  betrayed  other  Jews  to  the 
Germans,  when  their  armies  drove  the 
Russians  out  of  Polish  territory.  Inci- 
dentally, in  the  confusion  of  siege  and 
conquest,  the  Poles  engaged  in  pogroms 
on  their  own  account.  What  are  we  to 
expect  when  Poland  attains  its  inde- 
pendence? The  boycott  is  effective.  Po- 
groms are  now  not  a  novelty.  Is  Poland 
to  be  classed  with  Russia,  or  will  it 
take  its  place  with  civilized  nations?  The 
Poles  are  now  appealing  to  America 
for  sympathy.  They  are  collecting  a 
large  relief  fund.  American  newspapers, 
always  susceptible  to  the  claims  of  a 
people  struggling  for  liberty,  have  al- 
ready responded  with  enthusiastic  edi- 
torials that  dwell  upon  the  indomitable 
courage  and  determination  of  the  peo- 
ple who  gave  a  Kosciusko  to  the  world. 
But  what  will  these  newspapers  write 
when  they  hear  of  pogroms  and  boy- 
cotts? Aside  from  the  cruelty  of  ill- 
treating  Jews,  do  not  the  Poles  under- 
stand that  the  surest  way  to  alienate 
the  sympathies  of  the  world  is  to  con- 
tinue their  boycotts  and  pogroms? 

Distribution  in  Palestine 
Mr.  Maurice  Wertheim  has  returned 
from  Palestine  and  has  given  to  the 
public  a  report  of  how  he  distributed 
the  first  $50,000  in  Palestine.  This 
sum  was  sent  by  the  American  Jewish 
Committee,  Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff  and  the 
Provisional  Committee.  The  distribu- 
tion is  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Arthur  Rup- 
pin,  Aaron  Aronsohn  and  Ephraim 
Cohen,  who  co-operate  with  local  com- 
mittees. How  Mr.  Cohen  came  to  be  a 
member  of  the  distributing  committee 
is  not  clearly  disclosed,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  some  alteration  will  be  made 
in  the  personnel  of  the  committee  to 
minimize  the  influence  of  a  man  who 
is  so  much  out  of  sympathy  with  mod- 
ern ideas  in  Palestine.     Mr.  Wertheim 


156 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


found  the  needs  of  Palestine  great,  and 
he  urges  upon  American  Jews  immedi- 
ate granting  of  relief.  Since  the  first 
$50,000  was  sent,  a  second  sum  of  an 
equal  amount  has  been  remitted,  of 
which  $42,000  was  collected  by  the  Pro- 
visional Committee,  and  another  $45,- 
000  was  also  sent  by  the  same  Commit- 
tee for  individuals,  institutions,  and 
Zionist  relief.  The  American  Jewish 
Relief  Committee  has  also  contributed 
$25,000.     The  situation  is  very  grave. 

The  Shifting  of  the  Organization  Center. 

The  organization  of  our  Provisional 
Committee,  with  Mr.  Brandeis  as  its 
chairman,  meant  the  assumption  by 
American  Zionists  of  responsibility  for 
the  immediate  fate  of  Palestine.  Rus- 
sian Jewry  is  crippled,  and  Galician 
Jewry  is  involved  in  affairs  of  its  own 
that  will  demand  all  its  resources  for 
some  time  to  come.  All  the  other  coun- 
tries will  require  years  to  heal  the 
wounds  inflicted  by  the  war,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  of  an  organization 
like  ours  operating  in   any  one  of  the 


belligerent  countries.  As  a  result,  Dr. 
Tschlenow  and  Nahum  Sokolow  are  now 
on  their  way  to  this  country,  and  to- 
gether with  Dr.  Levin  will  reconstitute 
the  Inner  Actions  Committee  on  the 
most  neutral  soil  in  the  world,  backed, 
as  it  will  be,  by  a  large  Jewish  Com- 
munity, the  second  largest  in  the  world. 
This  may  be  a  temporary  arrangement. 
The  Provisional  Committee  will  con- 
tinue to  act  as  special  guardian  of  Pal- 
estinian interests,  but  it  will  have  the 
advice  and  co-operation  of  the  members 
of  the  Inner  Actions  Comite  resident  in 
this  country.  We  greet  the  entry  of  the 
Inner  Actions  Comite  into  our  life.  We 
bespeak  for  it  the  good-will  and  the  re- 
spectful attention  of  that  part  of  the 
Jewish  world  which  has  not  as  yet  affili- 
ated with  our  movement.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Messrs.  Levin,  Tschlenow 
and  Sokolow  will  represent  the  inter- 
national aspects  of  our  movement  in  a 
dignified,  authoritative  manner,  and 
that  as  a  result  of  their  activities  many 
Jews  now  alien  to  us  will  soon  find 
themselves  in  our  ranks. 


LET  US  NOT  LOSE  COURAGE 

By  Louis  Lipsky. 


Since  August  1st,  1914,  the  civilized 
world  has  fallen  from  its  high  estate. 
Old  standards  have  been  demolished.  A 
new  world  is  being  created  for  us,  out 
of  shot  and  shell,  by  the  hordes  of  fight- 
ing men  in  Flanders,  East  Prussia  and 
Poland.  War  on  a  scale  imagined  only 
by  fantastic  fiction-writers  or  obsessed 
militarists  has  returned,  and  now  oc- 
cupies the  throne.  Lucifer  stalks  the 
earth,  searing  the  tie  of  brotherhood, 
and  in  his  wake  are  piled  the  dead  hopes 
and  ideals  of  two  generations  of  prog- 
ress. 

The  din  of  battle  intrudes  every- 
where. The  terrible  effects  of  war  are 
gradually  effacing  the  recollections  of 
peace.  War  streaks  the  page  red  and 
all  other  colors  are  being  obliterated. 
It  has  banished  the  universal  appeal  to 
truth;  it  has  made  science  sectional;  it 
has  unseated  all  movements  and  is  tend- 
ing to  reduce  life  to  the  level  of  bru- 
tality, with  man-slaying  as  the  badge  of 
renown,  and  pestilential  hatreds  as  the 


salt  of  life.  We  use  to  live  in  homes; 
now,  it  seems,  we  are  living  in  trenches. 
Our  interest  zigzags  from  Flanders  to 
Poland,  to  East  Prussia,  to  Galicia.  All 
other  interests  disappear  like  frightened 
pheasants  before  the  heavy-footed  fow- 
ler. Our  eyes  turn  with  the  pegs  the 
German  or  French  strategist  moves  on 
his   bleeding  map. 

In  the  face  of  this  great  world  catas- 
trophe what  becomes  of  Zionism?  Our 
sense  of  values  has  been  affected.  Our 
cause  seems  so  small  in  comparison 
with  the  cause  in  which  the  destinies 
of  European  civilization  are  involved, 
and  in  which  our  own  destiny  seems 
so  insignificant.  Do  we  wish  to  estab- 
lish another  Belgium  in  Palestine?  Do 
we  dream  of  a  nation  with  justice  as 
its  armor  and  peace  as  its  sword?  Our 
Zionist  fire  is  a  spark  in  the  light  of 
the  glowing  fire  of  war  in  which  ten 
nations  are  now  employed. 

Like  ants  whose  hill  had  been  over- 
turned,   we    scampered    after    the    first 


THE     MACCABJEAN 


157 


outbreak,  trying  to  rebuild  what  the 
enemy  War  had  destroyed.  We  felt  in- 
stinctively that  Palestine — Zion — must 
be  protected.  We  called  in  alarm  to 
our  comrades  and  to  all  Jews,  clamor- 
ing for  assistance  in  patching  the  deep 
rent  made  by  the  belligerent  powers  in 
the  life  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.  We 
thought  only  of  bridging  over  the  time 
from  August  first  to — God  knows  what 
date — when  war  would  cease,  and  we 
would  be  free  to  resume  our  normal 
course. 

But  no  sooner  had  we  pledged  our 
efforts  to  this  work  when,  as  we  had 
surmised,  the  terrible  situation  of  our 
brothers  in  Galicia,  Poland  and  Russia 
was  forced  upon  our  attention.  Mil- 
lions of  our  brethren  are  in  the  center 
of  the  war  manouvers.  Lodz,  Warsaw, 
Kaliscz,  Cracow — what  are  these  but 
Jewish  cities?  Thousands  are  being 
ruined  every  day.  Every  day  Jewish 
widows  and  orphans  are  being  made 
by  the  war.  It  became  also  our  duty 
to  help.  There  was  no  one  else  to  help. 
The  Belgium  catastrophe,  whereby  a 
whole  nation  was  scattered,  aroused 
the  interest  of  the  general  public.  The 
Jewish  tragedy  could  not  be  seen — it 
could  not  be  felt — except  by  Jews.  In 
this  work  the  Zionists  were  in  duty 
bound  to  help.  We  were  thus  between 
two  fires.  Whom  to  save  first?  Was  it 
to  be  our  Polish  brothers,  the  buffers 
between  two  fires,  now  suffering  at  the 
hands  of  Russians,  now  at  the  hands 
of  Poles,  Germans  and  Austrians;  or 
was  it  to  be  the  hopeful  life  in  Pales- 
tine, our  national  stake  in  the  ground, 
upon  which  our  future  rested? 

This  was  our  dilemma,  and  we  took 
both  horns  of  the  dilemma  in  true  Jew- 
ish fashion.  But  the  tragedy  of  it  all 
lies  in  that  we  feel  that  no  matter  how 
much  we  Jews  may  sacrifice,  we  can- 
not make  good  the  losses  in  either  sec- 
tion of  the  Jewish  world.  We  shall 
lose  much  in  the  golus,  and  we  shall 
not  save  all  in  Palestine.  Irretrievable 
loss,  no  matter  what  we  do!  The 
growth  of  Palestine  has  not  developed 
sufficiently  to  become  a  real  salvation 
in  such  a  trying  time. 

But  more  than  the  physical  distress 
we   feel,   Zionist   policy — Zionist  hopes, 


Zionist  enthusiasm — has  been  affected 
by  these  conditions.  The  raw  facts  of 
the  moment  overcome  us.  Our  vision 
is  clouded.  We  feel  for  the  next  step. 
We  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  be.  The 
dependable  things  have  been  shaken; 
and  we  have  no  props  upon  which  to 
lean.  Confidence  and  faith  in  nations, 
in  law,  in  ideals,  in  the  sense  of  jus- 
tice of  nations,  have  been  lost.  We 
feel,  more  than  ever  before,  that  our 
problems  are  solely  our  own  problems, 
in  which  no  other  nation  can  have  a 
share.  Our  battles  must  be  fought  by 
our  own.  people,  and  we  need  not  de- 
pend as  formerly  upon  the  altruistic 
interest  of  foreign  nations.  Israel  must 
redeem  Israel,  and  it  must  depend  upon 
its  own  intelligence,  its  own  ideals  to 
find  the  way  out  of  the  morass  of  "civ- 
ilization," in  which  we  have  been  en- 
tangled. 

What  are  we  to  say?  How  shall  we 
advise  our   people,   our   comrades? 

The  Guardian  of  Israel  sleepeth  not! 
Through  the  smoke  of  battle  we  look 
ahead  and  perceive  the  line  along  which 
we  must  march.  It  is  the  same  old 
line,  the  way  back  to  Zion,  although 
the  protection  we  expected  from  other 
nations  is  now  lacking.  We  have  lost 
faith  in  other  nations;  but  we  are 
bound  to  acquire  a  deeper  faith  in  the 
Ruler  of  our  destiny,  and  we  expect, 
through  His  power,  to  be  given  the  in- 
telligence and  the  strength  to  deal  with 
our  own  affairs,  wholly  in  our  own  way. 

We  are  an  Eternal  People.  The  war 
will  pass,  but  we  live  on.  Our  ideals, 
the  ideals  of  Jewish  life,  have  not  been 
dimmed  by  war.  On  the  contrary,  they 
stand  out  now  more  clearly  than  ever. 
We  now  know  what  we  are  not,  and 
what  the  nations  are.  We  are  not  a 
warring  nation.  Our  mission  is  peace. 
We  do  not  oppose  force  with  force.  We 
present  our  claims,  and  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  justice  of  nations.  We  con- 
tinue our  appeal  in  spite  of  the  deaf- 
ness of  nations,  but  in  the  meantime 
we  work  out  our  own  program.  The 
general  in  command  of  our  army  is  not 
Von  Kluck  or  Rennenkampf.  It  is  the 
Chief,  who  showed  our  leader  Moses 
the  way  through  the  Wilderness. 


158  THE     MACCABiEAN 


A  CALL  FOR  THE  SHEKEL 


Comrades : 

We  Zionists  are  bound  to  look  ahead,  and  to  see  beyond  the  pres- 
ent crisis  in  Jewish  life ;  to  hold  ever  before  us  the  beacon  light  of  the 
Zionist  centre  for  which  we  have  been  struggling  for  the  past  twenty 
years.  Out  of  the  chaos  into  which  the  predominant  civilizations  have 
been  plunged,  deliverance  for  us  must  come.  We  must  be  prepared 
for  that  day.  Not  only  by  giving  of  our  substance  to  the  needy  in 
distress,  not  only  by  relieving  the  situation  in  Palestine,  but  by 
strengthening  our  Zionist  organization,  the  agency  of  Jewish  idealism, 
the  unified  force  working  for  our  deliverance.  When  that  agency 
speaks,  let  it  not  speak  in  the  name  of  a  minority,  but  for  a  majority 
of  the  Jewish  people.  Only  thus  shall  we  be  in  a  position  to  speak 
with  conviction,  and  will  our  words  be  taken  as  the  utterance  of  the 
Jewish  people. 

Therefore:  Go  out  among  our  brethren  and  urge  them  to  enroll 
in  our  organization.  And  to  enroll  how?  By  becoming  shekel-payers. 
The  shekel  is  the  token  of  enlistment  in  our  cause.  We  should  have 
not  a  few  thousand,  but  a  few  hundred  thousand  new  recruits. 

You,  as  an  individual,  can  do  much  to  help  us  in  this  work.  If 
you  are  a  Zionist,  also  become  a  missionary  among  those  who  are  not 
yet  Zionists..  Apply  to  us  for  shekel  books,  and,  when  you  receive 
them,  make  it  your  business  to  ask  every  Jew  you  know : 

"Are  you  a  Jew?" 

"If  you  are  a  Jew,  you  must  be  a  Zionist!" 

"If  you  are  a  Zionist,  at  least    pay  your  Shekel." 

Order  your  shekel-books  at  once.  Do  not  delay,  for  the  sooner 
our  forces  are  organized,  the  easier  becomes  our  task. .  We  need  every 
national  Jew  in  our  ranks.    Help  us  to  enlarge  our  organization. 

FEDERATION  OF  AMERICAN  ZIONISTS, 

Louis  Lip  sky, 

Chairman  Executive  Committee, 


Dated,  December,  1914. 


THE     MACCAByEAN 


159 


DEMOCRACY 

By  Dr.  Franz  Oppenheimer 

Of  the  University  of  Berlin 


The  following  article  ivas  written  over  a  year  ago  by  Dr.  Franz  Oppenheimer,  the 
founder  of  the  colony  of  Merchavia.  Dr.  Oppenheimer  is  one  of  the  leading  econ- 
omists and  political  thinkers  in  Europe. 

His  views  shed  light  on  the  present  extraordinary  situation,  even  though  they  may 
not  be  accepted  without  modification  by  the  more  conservative.  No  one  will  gainsay 
the  nobility  and  courage  of  the  underlying  thought.  They  are  of  particular  interest 
to   American   Jews. 


Democracy  has  grown  to  be  an  ideal 
of  humanity — indeed  the  highest  of  all 
ideals,  conceived  and  established  by  the 
greatest  thinkers. 

Even  such  as  were  advocates  of 
Authority,  nevertheless  believed  in 
A-cracy,  that  is  to  say  the  ideal  of  a 
community  freed  from  every  sort  and 
condition  of  economic  exploitation  of 
human  beings.  The  term  A-cracy  must 
be  differentiated  from  the  word  An- 
archy, which  represents  the  ideal  of  a 
community  knowing  no  coercive,  ac- 
cepted legal  authority  whatsoever.  The 
question  is  whether  Democracy  in  the 
sense  of  A-cracy  is  or  is  not  an  attain- 
able ideal   of  humanity. 

Human  needs  are  the  starting  point 
of  all  sociology.  Society  is  nothing 
more  than  a  means  to  obtain  through 
the  least  effort  the  highest  possible 
satisfaction  for  the  needs  of  its  mem- 
bers. Among  these  needs  those  come 
first  that  are  the  most  urgent  for  the 
individual,  those  which  he  shares  in 
part  with  all  animals,  the  needs  for 
material  commodities:  first,  food  and 
housing,  then  clothes,  working  utensils, 
and  at  last  objects  of  luxury. 

To  obtain  these  commodities  man  has 
at  his  disposal  two  means,  diametrically 
opposed  to  each  other.  The  one  is  his 
own  personal  labor  coupled  at  a  higher 
level  of  civilization  with  the  exchange 
of  the  products  of  his  labor  against 
others,  considered  their  equivalent.  As 
these  activities  are  the  keystone  of  all 
economic  communities,  I  have  called 
them  economic  means. 

The  second  way  to  obtain  the  com- 
modities necessary  for  man's  existence 
consists  in  a  forcible  appropriation 
without  equivalent,  either  bodily  vio- 
lence or  by  the  use  of  spiritual  power 


through  patriarchs  and  priests.  These 
means  I  have  called  political  means. 

The  reason  for  my  choosing  this  word 
lies  in  the  fact  that  these  means  gov- 
ern all  international  and  also  all  intra- 
national politics.  The  primary  type  of 
international  relations  is  war.  If  the 
pretext  for  war  generally  had  some  dif- 
ferent name,  the  real  cause  of  war  was 
hardly  ever  anything  else  but  the  desire 
to  enrich  one  nation  by  the  taking  of 
spoils  from  another,  or  the  struggle  of 
a  nation  against  such  tendencies.  Even 
today  international  commerce,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  of  the  mer- 
cantile system  as  a  means  for  exchange 
without  equivalent,  or,  in  other  words, 
as  to  a  means  for  securing  to  the  mer- 
chants of  the  home  country  a  plus-value 
of  commodities  at  the  expense  of  the 
foreign  merchant. 

But  above  everything  the  political 
means  reign  supreme  over  all  condi- 
tions of  intra-national  life.  It  has  cre- 
ated the  state,  and  the  state  is  essen- 
tially fully  developed  political  means. 

Only  the  form  of  this  idea  is  new  in 
itself.  It  is  old;  we  have  to  credit  with 
its  progressive  development  chiefly 
French  writers.  Started  by  Rousseau, 
the  idea  has  been  taken  up  by  J.  B.  Say 
and  by  Saint-Simon,  to  be  more  par- 
ticularly analyzed  and  perfected  by 
Proudhon.  It  has  given  rise  to  the 
most  passionate  discussions  and  to  bit- 
ter and  scathing  polemics.  Small  won- 
der, for  a  more  revolutionary  thought 
has  perhaps  never  been  expressed.  It 
is  the  explosive  capable  of  destroying 
the  most  strongly  protected  fortress  and 
of  leveling  the  walls  and  towers  of  every 
bastille,  however  firmly  held. 

True,  this  conception  of  the  state  is 
violently    attacked    by    every    political 


160 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


philosophy  current  today.  In  the 
opinion  of  certain  political  philosophers 
the  state  is  the  relation  on  earth  of  the 
idea  of  God,  or  some  other  equally  ab- 
stract notion.  The  answer  to  this  is, 
that  we  do  not  inquire  in  a  theological 
teleological  manner  to  what  ends  the 
state  has  been  created  or  to  which  de- 
gree of  perfection  it  has  to  be  brought; 
what  we  want  to  find  out  on  the  lines 
of  sociological  casualty  can  be  con- 
densed into  the  question:  what  is  the 
nature  of  state,  and  what  human — not 
transcendental — aims  have  given  rise  to 
its  formation?  Other  philosophies  as- 
sert with  Epicurus  that  the  state  is  the 
protection  of  the  frontiers  against  at- 
tacks from  wihout  and  the  protection 
of  law  and  order  against  attacks  from 
within.  This  is  quite  correct,  but  does 
not  by  far  exhaust  the  subject,  while 
leaving  entirely  unanswered  the  ques- 
tion: what  kind  of  law  and  order  does 
the  state  protect. 

The  only  explanation  as  to  the  es- 
sence and  the  origin  of  the  state  that 
stands  scientific  investigation  we  owe 
chiefly  to  Ludwig  Gumplowicz.  I  have 
done  nothing  more  than  to  give  to  his 
purely  legal  and  political  definition  the 
economic  complement  it  still  lacked — 
the  state  is  a  legal  institution  imposed 
by  a  governing  class  upon  a  governed 
class,  use  of  spiritual  authority,  and 
this  with  the  sole  aim  to  "utilize  eco- 
nomically" the  lower  classes  for  the 
benefit  of  the  upper  class.  By  economic 
utilization  I  mean  methodical  exploita- 
tion according  to  the  principle  of  the 
least  effort  to  obtain  the  highest  per- 
manent result. 

This,  at  first  view  somewhat  para- 
doxical, can  nevertheless  be  demon- 
strated by  the  use  of  the  inductive 
method.  History  knows  not  one  exam- 
ple of  the  genesis  of  a  state  that  has 
not  been  carried  out  on  this  principle. 
It  is  true  that  violence  does  not  always 
appear  predominant  in  the  formation  of 
colonial  states,  but  then  the  political 
institutions,  as  existing  in  the  home 
country,  are  mostly  taken  over  by  the 
new  country,  thus  preserving  the  orig- 
inal violence  iondensed  and  crystallized 
in  these  legal  forms. 

It  is  chiefly  by  the  method  of  deduc- 
tion, however,  that  we  are  able  to  prove 


our  assertion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  and 
without  question,  all  states  of  antiquity 
and  all  states  of  modern  times  are  states 
divided  into  classes;  i.  e.,  hierarchial 
states  with  several  strata  of  superin- 
posed  classes,  each  having  distinct  and 
separate  political  rights  and  a  distinct 
and  separate  economic  equipment. 

This  division  into  classes  was  based 
until  modern  times,  and  in  a  number  of 
states  is  based  today  upon  a  code  of 
law  that  indisputably  represents  only 
legally  sanctioned  and  constitutionally 
guaranteed  violence,  violence  of  the 
sword,  violence  of  the  breviary,  violence 
of  the  confessional.  Slavery, as  existing 
in  antiquity  and  the  serfdom  of  the 
Middle  Ages  are  indubitably  a  political 
means,  legally  codified  and  unilaterally 
enforceable. 

Now  the  states  of  antiquity  are  noth- 
ing more  than  the  "legal  casing"  for 
slavery,  and  those  of  the  Middle  Ages 
the  "legal  casing"  for  serfdom,  and  thus 
our  assertion  will  be  found  fully  proven 
for  these  two  large  periods  of  history. 

Can  a  like  contention  be  put  forward 
with  regard  to  modern  states,  where 
neither  slavery  nor  serfdom  lawfully 
exist  any  longer?  Especially  as  to 
states  that  have  attained  a  high  degree 
of  democratic  civilization,  that  enjoy 
universal  suffrage,  •  possess  universal 
military  service,  and  where  all  citizens 
are  equal  before  the  law?  Are  these 
states,    too,   developed  political   means? 

Without  the  slightest  possible  doubt! 
Nobody  will  be  so  rash  as  to  contest  the 
assertion  that  these  states  are,  at  least 
economically,  class  states,  and  nobody 
will  venture  to  deny  that  politically, 
too,  they  are  more  or  less  class  states; 
that  is  to  say,  the  influence  of  the 
wealthy  classes  in  legislation,  in  ad- 
ministration and  in  politics  home  and 
foreign,  in  war  and  in  commerce,  is  far 
more  pronounced  than  their  purely  nu- 
merical importance  could  possibly  jus- 
tify, and  further  that  this,  their  special 
influence,  is  not  always  exercised  ex- 
clusively in  the  interests  of  the  lower 
classes. 

We  make  the  statement — a  modern 
state — with  legal  franchise  cannot  be 
anything  else  but  a  developed  political 
means;  all  division  into  classes  can  only 
be  brought  about  on  the  basis  of  a  legal 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


161 


institution  that  sanctions  and  guaran- 
tees the  former  oppression  by  violence. 
All  division  into  classes  must  cease 
automatically  and  immediately  the  mo- 
ment this  legal  institution  is  abolished. 
And  this  institution  is  the  legal  right 
to  the  closing  in  of  the  land. 

So  far  as  I  know,  it  was  Turgot  who 
first  stated  that  only  where  "every  piece 
of  land  has  found  its  master,"  can  a 
labor  class  come  into  existence,  and  it 
is  the  existence  of  a  labor  class  that 
alone  makes  possible  unearned  income, 
latifundiary  property  and  the  excessive 
hoarding  of  "capital";  because  all  this 
pre-supposes  the  existence  of  a  class 
without  property,  of  a  class  of  "free" 
laborers,  to  use  the  terminology  of 
Marx. 

We  know  that  long  before  the  time  of 
Turgot  all  the  land  had  found  an  owner, 
for  there  existed  already  then,  and  even 
earlier,  a  labor  class,  unearned  income 
and  large  fortunes.  The  question  is: 
How  had  the  land  found  its  owners? 
Had  it  been  taken  possession  of  by 
economical  means?  That  is,  had  the 
ownership  been  acquired  by  peasants, 
tilling  the  soil  with  their  own  hands 
and  reaping  what  they  had  sown  them- 
selves? Or  had  the  political  means 
been  employed?  That  is,  had  the  own- 
ership been  "acquired  with  a  view  to 
closing  in  the  land  and  to  forcing  others 
to  pay  the  owners  part  of  the  produce 
of  their  labor? 

Neither  Turgot  nor  any  of  his  succes- 
sors, except  perhaps  the  Irish  socialist, 
Thompson,  have  approached  this  ques- 
tion. Not  one  of  them  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  fact  can  be  ex- 
plained in  two  different  ways.  They 
concluded,  quite  simply,  that  no  divi- 
sions into  classes  and  no  latifundiary 
property  could  possibly  exist  if  there 
were  enough  land  available.  But  as 
the  existence  of  the  one  and  the  other 
had  to  be  admitted,  there  evidently  was 
not  enough  land. 

This  conclusion  is  wrong.  It  over- 
looks the  fact  that  indeed  there  might 
be  enough  land  to  go  round,  but  that  it 
might  be  closed  in  by  the  right  of  own- 
ership against  those  that  need  it. 
Should  this  be  the  case,  then  the  conse- 
quences, as  far   as   social  class-distinc- 


tions go,  must  be  the  same  as  if  there 
were  not  enough  land. 

How  shall  we  decide  this  question? 
Quite  simply  by  the  use  of  arithmetic 
and  statistics.  We  must  find  out  how 
much  land  is  necessary  to  support  one 
peasant,  how  many  people  there  exist 
today  needing  land,  and  what  the  total 
area  available  for  agriculture  is.  If  we 
discover  that  we  are  short  of  land,  then 
the  division  into  classes  is  an  imminent 
category  of  human  society,  and  the  ex- 
isting order  of  states  divided  into 
classes  is  immutable.  But  should  we 
find  the  available  area  to  be  in  excess 
of  the  needed  acreage,  then  the  division 
into  classes  is  the  consequence  of  a  legal 
institution,  the  consequence  of  the  clos- 
ing-in  of  the  land,  and  in  that  case  the 
state  divided  into  classes  as  existing  to- 
day is  a  historical  category,  the  result 
and  the  legal  casing  of  the  political 
means. 

The  operation,  if  carried  out,  proves 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  second  assump- 
tion alone  is  correct  by  the  same 
author:  Die  soziale  Frage  und  der  Soz- 
ialismus  (the  social  question  and  social- 
ism) Gustav  Fisher,  Jena.— I  have  gone 
fully  into  these  details  in  one  of  my 
books,  and  therefore  I  may  be  allowed 
to  content  myself  here  with  only  a  short 
summary  of  the  facts. 

According  to  the  opinion  of  compe- 
tent authorities,  the  area  necessary  to 
permit  a  family  of  peasants  to  live  by 
the  produce  of  their  agricultural  labor 
can  be  set  down  as  being  in  Germany 
one  hectar  per  head  (2%  Engl,  acres), 
five  to  seven  hectars  (12%  to  17% 
Engl,  acres)  per  family,  striking  a  lib- 
eral average.  This  area  allows  a  thor- 
oughly reasonable  standard  of  life;  the 
net  income  will  be  in  the  East  of  Ger- 
many more  than  300  marks  ($75)  per 
hectar  market-value  that  is  saleable 
produce  after  deducting  the  part  of  the 
peasant,  his  family  and  his  animals 
have  consumed.  Moreover,  this  is  still 
far  from  the  possible  maximum.  The 
yield  can  be  considerably  augmented 
by  special  attention  being  given  to  cat- 
tle raising,  as  is  proven  by  the  examples 
of  Denmark  and  the  north  of  France. 
At  the  same  time  this  acreage  is  the 
maximum  that  a  peasant  family  can 
cultivate    properly    with    the    average 


162 


THE     MACCABvEAN 


amount  of  cattle  raising,  and  the  in- 
tensity of  labor  used  in  Germany  agri- 
culture today  without  the  help  of  paid 
assistance.  This  answers  our  question 
as  to  the  area  necessary  to  allow  a 
family  to  subsist  by  itself,  in  a  social 
order,  where  there  does  not  exist  a 
laboring  class. 

Now  Germany  contains  3  4  million 
hectars  of  land  suitable  for  agricultural 
purposes,  but  her  agricultural  popula- 
tion only  numbers  17  million  people. 
There  is  therefore  room  for  just  double 
the  number  of  independent  peasant 
families  as  exist  there. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  Great  Britain 
today. 

But  far  more  than  half  of  these  17 
millions,  representing  the  agricultural 
population  of  Germany,  is  composed  of 
farm  laborers  without  any  rural  prop- 
erty, while  rather  more  than  half  the 
remaining  population  owns  considerably 
less  than  one  hectar  per  head.  The  ex- 
planation of  these  facts  is  found  in  the 
word  closed-in  land.  Almost  one-fourth 
of  the  whole  area  suitable  for  cultiva- 
tion belongs  to  some  12  or  13  thousand 
landed  proprietors,  owning  each  over 
100  hectars  (not  counting  forests)  and 
more  than  a  second  fourth  is  in  the 
hands  of  some  225,000  farmers,  who 
are  forced  to  employ  foreign  laborers 
in  order  to  farm  their  land.  There  can 
thus  be  no  doubt  that  there  exists  in 
Germany  a  state  of  closing-in  of  the 
land  of  political  occupation  of  the  soil, 
and  consequently  the  division  into 
classes  is  the  outcome  of  the  political, 
not  of  the  economical,  means. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  Great  Britain 
with  her  immense  latifundiary  estates 
that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  now  attacking 
with  such  vigor;  of  Belgium,  of  Italy, 
of  Austro-Hungary,  of  Russia,  Rouma- 
nia,  and  so  forth. 

But  it  is  just  as  true  for  the  coun- 
tries where  peasant-proprietors  predom- 
inate like  France,  Switzerland,  Holland, 
the  United  States  of  America.  In  all 
these  countries  there  is  room  for  a 
great  increase  of  the  actual  number  of 
independent  peasant  proprietors.  Every- 
where, however,  we  find  a  large  mass  of 
proletarian  farm  labourers  and  a  strong 
percentage  of  dwarf-property.  Wher- 
ever a  larger  area  than  one  hector  per 


head  is  needed  we  find  the  intensity  of 
cultivation  to  be  still  low,  and  there  the 
density  of  population  is  also  low;  wher- 
ever the  density  of  population  is  high 
we  find  the  intensity  of  cultivation  cor- 
respondingly high  and  the  necessary 
acreage  is  reduced  accordingly.  Thus 
for  the  West  of  Germany  and  for 
France,  where  the  soil  is  richer  and  the 
climate  more  favourable,  and  where  cul- 
tivation is  at  a  higher  level,  the  acreage 
necessary  per  head  to  ensure  independ- 
ence is  found  on  an  average  to  be  only 
two  thirds  of  a  hector  or  about  3  to  4 
hectars  per  family  ("at  an  average" 
means  of  course  the  poorer  land  and 
less  favourable  market  conditions  re- 
quire more  land  and  very  favourable 
general  conditions  will  allow  a  smaller 
acreage  to  be  sufficient). 

This  certainly  proves  that  Turgot  and 
his  successors  were  mistaken;  and,  fur- 
ther, that  the  division  into  classes  is  the 
result  of  political  means;  and  finally, 
that  the  State  divided  into  classes  con- 
stitutes the  developed  political  means. 
Without  the  closing-in  of  the  land  there 
would  be  even  to-day,  and  for  countless 
years  to  come,  no  division  into  classes, 
no  labouring  class,  no  latifundiary  pro- 
prietors of  real  estate  and  no  excess- 
sively  rich  capitalists. 


In  what  measure  does  this  now  bring 
us  nearer  to  a  solution  of  our  problem? 
Well,  anarchism  asserts  that,  as  author- 
itative government  has  been  always  in- 
fected with  exploitation  it  will  be  so  in- 
fected throughout  all  future  time.  We 
have  now  shown  this  deduction  to  be  a 
simple  contention  by  analogy  and  are 
able  to  affirm  its  being  fundamentally 
wrong,  because  the  ward  "state"  is  ap- 
plied here  to  two  different  phenomena: 
the  antique  and  the  modern  state  di- 
vided into  classes,  and  the  state  free  of 
all  class  divisions  that  is  to  come.  These 
two  phenomena  are  as  contradictory  as 
the  different  roots  from  which  they 
spring:  the  political  means  for  the  one 
and  the  economical  means  for  the  other. 
It  is  easily  understood  that,  with  the 
state  divided  into  classes,  all  authority 
vested  in  functionaries,  every  official 
position  as  judge  or  as  general,  as  May- 
or  as    tribal   king,   as   member   of   par- 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


163 


liament  and  so  forth   could  easily  lead 
the  holder  of  such  position  to  abuse  his 
power.     Everywhere  the  functionary  re- 
lied and  had  to  rely  on  one  class  in  or- 
der   to   govern    and   oppress   the  other. 
Marius  relies  on  the   plebs  against  the 
proprietary    class    and    Sulla    uses    the 
later  to  subdue  the  masses.     Always  we 
find        numbers        opposing       numbers, 
strength   opposing   strength,   the  collec- 
tive power  and  the  collective  interest  of 
one  class   opposing  those  of  the  other. 
But  in  a  Democracy,  assumed  to  have 
attained  complete  a-cracy,  the  function- 
ary wishing  to  exploit  those  over  whom 
he  has  authority   has  no   chance  what- 
ever.    Whom  is  he  to  rely  on  for  this 
purpose?     There  do  not  exist  any  longer 
opposing    class-interests    and    class-con- 
flicted,   because   the   classes   themselves 
have  disappeared.     Certainly  it  will  still 
be  possible  for  a  functionary  to  become 
a  criminal,  but  in  an  a-cratic  Democracy 
he  is  deprived  of  all  support  and  protec- 
tion  against   the  indignation   of   public 
opinion,  for  there  will  be  but  one  public 
opinion,  and  not,  as  in  a  state  divided 
into    classes,     as    many    as    there    are 
classes.     It  will  still  be  possible  that  a 
functionary  lead  the  whole  social  body 
astray  causes  it   to  follow  a  path   that 
may  prove  disastrous,  but  he  can  never 
force   the   community   to  follow  such   a 
path.      He   is   alone   against   the   whole 
and     undivided     body     of     the     people, 
powerful  only  when  he  executes  the  will 
of  the  people,  when  he  furthers   public 
interest,  impotent  whenever  he  might  be 
tempted  to  try  and  act  against  the  will 
of  the  people  and  contrary  to  the  pub- 
lic  interest. 

This  result  of  our  analysis  gives  us 
at  the  same  time  the  explanation  for 
the  exceptions  we  have  mentioned'. 
Authoritative  government  leads  to  ex- 
ploitation whenever  it  can  rely  on  the 
support  of  a  whole  class,  which  not  only 
does  escape  this  exploitative,  but  profits 
by  it. 

The  so-called  democratic  states  of 
Antiquity  foundered  on  this  reef.  These 
states,  divided  into  classes,  had  a 
double  foundation:  the  closing-in  of  the 
land  and  slavery,  and  thus  the  division 
into  classes  was  particularly  accentu- 
ated, facilitating  the  machinations  of  all 
sorts    of    demagogues    and    pretenders. 


These  aspirants  to  public  power  could 
always  rely  on  one  class  or  another  to 
support  their  claims,  and  the  principle 
is  still  the  same  in  modern  Europe. 

But  where  no  division  into  classes 
prevails  there,  abuses  of  authority  can- 
not be  carried  on  with  impunity  and 
can  certainly  not  be  persisted  in. 

This  being  true,  there  vanishes  the 
only  argument  that  Oligocracy  can  put 
forward  against  the  claims  of  Democ- 
racy— if  we  have  out  the  preposterous 
pretention  that  authoritative  govern- 
ment be  a  manifestation  of  the  "will  of 
God."  That  argument  assumes  that 
democracy  must  necessarily  lead  to 
Anarchy,  to  disorder  and  to  chaos,  thus 
confusing  Anarchy  with  A-cracy.  The 
state  of  the  future,  not  divided  into 
classes,  the  "free  citizenship"  of  my 
terminology,  meaning  a  charactership 
freed  all  remnants  of  political  means 
will  possess  the  most  effective  and  most 
thorough  authority;  it  will  have  its 
official  functionaries,  invested  with  all 
the  power  reasonably  necessary;  its 
system  of  taxes  and  contributions;  its 
legal  code;  its  judges  and  so  on.  Such 
a  state  will  be  utterly  different  from 
Anarchy  and  yet  essentially  A-cratic. 


VI. 


"Be  that  so,"  someone  may  reply, 
"full  democracy,  according  to  your  defi- 
nition, is  then  possible  when  the  very 
last  vestiges  of  political  means  have 
been  abolished,  when  the  legal  institu- 
tion permitting  the  closing-in  of  the 
land  has  been  done  away  with  utterly. 
Then  the  division  of  classes  and  the 
state  divided  into  classes  will  disappear. 
Such  a  community  can  last  forever,  be- 
cause it  can  elect  official  and  authorita- 
tive functionaries  without  fear  of  abuse 
of  power.  All  that  is  very  well.  But 
now  what  proof  is  there  that  such  a 
social  condition  is  really  desirable? 
After  all  we  have  here  nothing  more 
than  one  philosophical  idea  opposed  to 
another  philosophical  idea,  one  ideal  as 
against  another  ideal,  one  political  the- 
ory against  another.  What  is  there  to 
prove  that  the  oligocratic  concept  is 
wrong  and  the  democratic  A-cracy 
right"? 


To  be  Continued. 


164  THE     MACCAB^EAN 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  JEW 

When  I  perceive  that  in  these  western  lands 

Our  freedom  drugs  that  stubborn  discontent 
That  saved  us  from  old  alien  vengeful  hands: 

What  torture  strengthened  is  by  kindness  bent; 
That  now  the  fire  consuming  Judah's  heart 

But  burns  more  slowly  to  gain  strength  of  grip ; 
And  here  an  awful  silence  doth  impart 

Uneasiness:  death  seals  the  prophet  lip — 
Oh  then  worse  woe,  it  seems,  we  suffer  now/ 

Than  ever  bore  the  martyrs  we  revere, 
Whose  necks  one  brief  cruel  moment  down  would  bow, 

But  age-long  agonies  tear  out  life  here! 
Must  Zion  ever  des'late,  speechless  stand, 

And  Israel  waste  its  strength  in  slow  decay? 
Ah  no !  for  ever  'tis  a  promised  land, 

And  soon  a  lovely  dawn  proclaims  the  day 
When  Zion's  temple  thunders  out  God's  word; 
All  Israel  comes  to  sing  before  the  Lord! 


The  Western  Cedar 

Agleam  this  cedar's  verdant  branches  spread, 
Entangling  myriad  sunbeams'  flashing  flight, 
Embracing  in  cool  shade  a  mellow  light 

Of  grassy  green  subdued  in  holy  dread 

Of  this  staunch  knotty  trunk;  its  rearing  head 
Yearns  to  the  sky,  declaring  still  the  might 
Of  Him  who  planted  Lebanon ;  this  sight 

But  curtains  crimson  years  when  martyrs  bled. 

But  see,  around  each  writhing  rooty  spot 
There  creeps  a  fatal  weed;  and  every  bough 

Feels  at  its  heart  a  slowly  gripping  rot, 
Portending  soon  a  hoary  pride  laid  low. 

Oh,  Holy  Land!    I  feel  your  great  soul  move 

Your  desert  a  more  fertile  soil  to  prove. 


Victor  Coen. 


THE     MACCABAEAN 


165 


LIGHT  IN  THE  DARKNESS 

A  Story 
By  Israel   Goldberg. 


In  his  barred  and  silenced  home, 
peering  through  a  crack  in  the  shutter, 
David  looked  out  that  day  on  the  seem- 
ingly endless  march  of  soldiers  of  every 
description  through  the  main  street  of 
the  town.  There  was  something  panicky 
about  the  appearance  of  those  mechan- 
ically moving  throngs.  The  whole  of 
the  previous  day  the  rumbling  and 
muttering  of  distant  cannonading  had 
been  heard.  Then,  with  the  break  of 
the  new  day,  came  the  first  heralds  of 
the  retreating  army,  announcing  that  a 
"strategic  retreat"  was  being  executed. 
Then  followed  a  procession  of  all  sorts 
of  vehicles,  most  of  them  bearing  the 
wounded  of  the  latest  engagement. 

David  stood  at  his  window  that  som- 
bre winter  day — it  was  the  first  day  of 
the  Chanukah  festival — and  at  times  he 
could  distinguish  the  face  and  forms  of. 
the  wounded  men.  At  times  also  he 
thought  he  recognized  among  them 
members  of  his  own  race,  faces  bearing 
the  Jewish  imprint  even  as  they  also 
bore  the  imprint  of  death.  At  such 
moments  his  heart  beat  faster,  and  pity 
and  despair  rose  up  in  him  and  choked 
his  breath.  There  they  lay,  his  pale 
and  mangled  brothers,  who  had  left 
their  blood  on  the  battlefield  of  the 
stranger. 

He  stood  for  the  greater  part  of  that 
day  and  watched  the  passage  of  the 
soldiery.  The  cannon  dragged  by  the 
stumbling  horses  and  pushed  from  be- 
hind by  the  artillerymen,  the  serried 
and  ceaseless  tramp  of  the  infantry, 
the  feverish  trot  and  gallop  of  the  cav- 
alry. Instinctively  he  tried  to  discover 
among  them  the  features  of  his  own 
people,  and  many  were  the  faces  he 
found  that  answered  to  his  search. 

As  the  last  battalions  were  swinging 
around  the  street  towards  the  hills  be- 
hind the  town,  a  messenger  knocked 
loudly  at  the  barred  door  of  the  house, 
and,  to  the  frightened  inquiry,  replied 
that  orders  had  just  been  issued  from 
the  town  hall  that  no  lights  were  to  be 


lit  that  night  in  any  house  of  the  town. 
All  knew  what  that  meant.  The  enemy 
was  expected  to  appear  that  very  night. 

The  shadows  of  the  early  winter 
evening  had  now  completely  invaded  the 
room  where  David  found  himself.  The 
boy,  already  fast  becoming  a  man,  sat 
down  in  the  deserted  room  and  became 
lost  in  sombre  thoughts.  Those  ex- 
hausted, hopeless  men  who  had  just 
disappeared  into  the  hills,  how  were 
they  going  to  spend  this  winter  night? 
And  his  brothers  among  them,  fighting 
and  suffering  for  the  stranger,  what  was 
their  holiday  cheer  on  this  night  of  the 
Feast  of  Candles?  The  previous  night, 
at  his  home,  the  first  candle  had  been 
lit,  the  glories  of  the  Maccabaean  vic- 
tories recalled.  His  fancy  had  been 
fired,  a  martial  fever  burned  in  his 
blood.  There  was  fighting  in  the  dis- 
tance. Ah!  those  were  the  Maccabaean 
bands,  hurling  themselves  on  the  op- 
pressor, striking  at  the  corrupt  and  in- 
solent stranger,  purging  the  land  of  his 
swinish  presence.  And  in  his  ears,  min- 
gled with  the  sound  of  his  father's 
chanting,  there  had  risen  the  jubila- 
tions of  victory,  of  the  triumphant  entry 
into  Jerusalem,  the  acclamations  of  a 
freed  people.  How  happy  had  he  been 
to  have  poured  forth  his  blood  in  such 
a  struggle! 

And  now  there  paced  before  David's 
vision  in  the  dusk  of  that  room  the 
tired  and  haunted  faces  of  his  brothers 
who  were  pouring  their  blood  for  the 
stranger.  He  was  overwhelmed  with 
despair.  He  sobbed  and  his  heart  was 
somewhat  relieved.  He  roused  himself 
and  said  to  himself:  "We  still  have 
fighters  among  us.  The  day  must  come 
when  they  will  fight  their  own  fight 
again.  Our  candles  burn  weak,  but 
they  must  not  be  extinguished." 

Someone  entered  the  room. 

"David,"  said  his  father's  voice,  "are 
you  still  here?" 

"Father,"  replied  David,  "it  is  time 
to  light  the  candles." 


166 


THE     MACCABvEAN 


"Candles,  David!  Haven't  you  heard 
the  order  from  the  town  hall?" 

"Yes,  but  those  candles  must  be  lit. 
I  must  see  them  lit  tonight  of  all 
nights,  or  I  can't  make  clear  to  you 
what  I  mean;  but  come,  we  can  place 
them  in  the  back  room  and  close  the 
shutters.  Come,  father,  nothing  will 
happen,  I  assure  you." 

And,  taking  his  father's  hand  in  his 
own,  the  excited  lad  conducted  him  to 
the  room  that  faced  the  outskirts  of  the 
town,  and  then,  after  the  shutters  had 
been  pulled  to,  the  benedictions  were 
pronounced  and  the  candles  duly 
lighted. 

II. 

Several  hours  later,  as  David  was 
sitting  in  the  main  room  with  the  other 
members  of  his  family  conversing  in  the 
darkness  in  whispers,  there  suddenly 
rang  out  on  the  deserted  street  the 
sound  of  galloping  hoofs,  followed  by 
the  shrill  blast  of  a  bugle.  It  was  only 
too  easy  to  guess  what  was  happening. 
The  enemy  was  entering  the  town.  His 
scouts  were  already  sweeping  through 
the  streets.  They  could  be  heard  dash- 
ing around  the  turning  and  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  hills.  A  number  of  rifle 
shots  were  fired,  to  which  there  was 
no  reply.  Back  galloped  the  horsemen, 
and  before  long  the  measured  trotting 
of  a  much  larger  body  of  cavalrymen 
could  be  heard  on  the  street.  Clear 
commanding  voices,  speaking  the  lan- 
guage of  the  enemy — a  language  which 
David  understood — could  be  heard,  and 
in  a  short  while  a  loud  knocking  on  the 
front  door  reached  the  ears  of  the  terri- 
fied inmates. 

For  some  moments  the  poor  folks  re- 
mained numb  with  fear. 

"Come,  father,"  exclaimed  David, 
rousing  himself,  "let  us  go  down  and 
see  what  is  wanted." 

At  the  front  door  they  were  met  by 
two  men  in  uniform. 

"Our  officers,"  spoke  one,  "will  have 
to  pass  this  niiht  in  your  house.  How 
many  can  you  accommodate?" 

"No  more  than  one,"  replied  David's 
father;  "my  family  is  large  and  my 
house  is  not." 

"You  Jews  all  tell  us  the  same  story," 
grinned  the  soldier,  displaying  a  set  of 
huge   teeth   that   gleamed  in   the   dark- 


ness. "We  will  have  to  go  in  and  see 
for  ourselves." 

The  two  soldiers  stamped  their  way 
through  the  various  rooms  of  the  dwell- 
ing. As  they  approached  the  room  fac- 
ing the  outskirts  of  the  town  they  could 
see  a  light  shining  through  the  crack 
of  the  door.  They  entered.  On  a  table 
near  the  window  they  saw  a  curiously 
branched  candlestick,  in  which  burned 
three  candles,  one  of  which  was  separ- 
ated from  the  other  two.  The  latter 
circumstance  in  particular  aroused  the 
suspicion  of  the  scouts,  accustomed  as 
they  were  to  inspect  everything  in  the 
country  of  the  enemy. 

'What  is  the  meaning  of  these  can- 
dles?" demanded  one  of  them.  "Hadn't 
you  been  ordered  to  have  no  lights  to- 
night?" 

David's  heart  jumped   with  fear. 

His  father  was  panic-stricken.  "Cha- 
nukah,"  he  muttered  confusedly.  "You 
see,  a — a  Jewish  custom — we — " 

"We  know  your  Jewish  customs," 
brisquely  interrupted  the  soldier,  and 
advancing  towards  the  window  he  flung 
it  open  and  swung  back  the  shutters. 
The  night  air  entered  cold  and  calm. 
Under  the  star-lit  sky  could  be  distin- 
guished the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and 
in  the  distance  loomed  the  hills  whither, 
they  knew,  the  enemy  had  retreated. 

"So,"  the  soldier  turned  fiercely  to 
the  trembling  father  and  son,  "this, 
then,  is  your  Jewish  custom!  Don't 
you  think  we  know  that  shutters  have 
cracks?  You  cursed  spies,  you've  been 
signalling  to  the  enemy  with  these  can- 
dles." 

"Keep  guard  over  these  men,"  he 
continued,  turning  to  his  comrade, 
"while  I  go  to  inform  the  corporal." 
He  strode  out  of  the  room,  and  as  he 
opened  the  door  a  gust  of  air  entered 
and  blew  out  the  candles.  The  second 
soldier  put  his  back  to  the  door,  un- 
veiled a  dark  lantern  with  which,  as 
scout,  he  was  provided,  and  remained 
standing  to  guard  the  prisoners. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  corporal  him- 
self, accompanied  by  the  first  soldier, 
entered  the  room. 

The  appearance  of  the  newcomer 
struck  David  immediately.  There  was 
mingled  in  his  features  a  certain  re- 
finement  coupled   with   a   deep  sadness 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


167 


that  arrested  attention.  But  it  was  the 
features  themselves  that  David  first  ob- 
served. These  were  singularly  Jewish 
in  type:  deep  mellow  eyes,  a  prominent 
nose,  sensitive  nostrils. 

"You  two  may  go,"  he  said  in  low, 
deep  tones,  a  voice  in  which  sadness 
seemed  to  be  the  dominant  note.  "I'll 
deal  with  these  people  myself."       .<■. 

Then  followed  a  minute  or  two  of 
silence  after,  the  two  men  had  gone  out. 

"You  are  accused  of  signalling  to  the 
enemy  with  your  Chanukah  candles," 
the  corporal  spoke,  with  a  note  of  play- 
ful irony  in  his  voice, 

David's  father  was  too  dazed  to  ob- 
serve the  man's  tone.  "But,"  he  plead- 
ed,   "it  was  not  to  signal.      We"' — 

"Brother,"  interrupted  the  soldier  in 
his  deep,  sad  voice,  "why  do  you  plead 
with  me?     I  am  a  Jew." 

"You — a  Jew?"  the  elderly  man 
stammered.  But  David  had  regained 
his  composure.  Pictures  of  the  day's 
happenings  rose  before  his  memory, 
certain  faces,  pale  and  blood-stained, 
resembling  strikingly  the  face  of  the 
man  who  now  stood  before  him.  A 
strange,  exalted  bitterness  welled  up 
within  him. 

"Perhaps,"  he  articulated  calmly,  ad- 
dressing the  soldier,  "perhaps  those 
lights  really  were  a  signal  to  some  of 
those  men  in  the  hills." 

"What's  that  you  say,  boy,"  snapped 
the  man,  and  there  was  a  swift  change 
in  the  quality  of  his  voice. 

"I  say,"  replied  David  calmly,  "that 
many  a  man  did  I  see  pass  by  and  away, 
into  those  hills  to  whom  the  sight  of 
the  Chanukah  candles  would  have  been 
a  joy  and  a  consolation."     . 

The  soldier  uttered  a  sigh  of  relief 
as  he  understood. 

"And  some  of  those  I  saw,"  David 
continued,  "will  never  again  see  the 
light  of  those  candles.  They  will  die 
in  battle — but  not  like  the  Maccabees 
of  old  for  whom  these  lights  are  lit. 
They  will  die  fighting  for  the  stranger 
in  a  strange,  land." 

The  last  words  seemed  to  have  a 
powerful  effect  on  the  soldier.  He  al- 
most staggered  back  and  stared  at 
David  with  amazement.  "For  the 
stranger  in  a  strange  land,"  he  mur- 
mured to  himself. 


"What  makes  you  talk  like  that, 
boy?"  he  asked  David  sharply,  a  vague 
irritation  in  his  voice. 

"Makes  me  talk?"  David  repeated. 
"Look  here,  soldier,  you  are  pursuing 
those  men  in  the  hills,  are  you  not?" 

"Who  gives  you  the  right  to  ask  ques- 
tions,  boy?" 

"Who  gives  me  the  right?  This: 
That  I  am  a  Jew,  and  you  are  a  Jew, 
and  that  you  are  pursuing  men  who 
are  Jews.  And  yesterday,"  David  con- 
tinued with  heightened  bitterness, 
"yesterday  there  was  a  battle.  And 
you  fought,  didn't  you?  And  I  saw 
them,  the  men  you  fought,  your  own 
brothers.  Yesterday,  when  we  here  il- 
lumined the  home  for  the  day.  when 
our  people  had  won  back  their  land 
and  freedom." 

Visible  signs  of  grief  passed  across 
the  soldier's  face  as  David  spoke.  He 
leaned  against  the  table  and  his  head 
fell. 

"And,  oh  God!"  David  continued  with 
even  greater  vehemence,  "think  of  it — 
perhaps  you,  with  your  own  hands,  yes- 
terday struck  down  your  own, brother, 
mangled  his  body  that  I  saw  borne  away 
to  those  hills!" 

His  last  words  were  drowned  in  a 
sob.  But  there  came  an  answering  sob. 
That  soldier's  body  was  shaken  in 
dreadful  convulsions.  His  shoulders 
heaved,  and  the  strong  man  stood  there 
bowed  and  wept  like  a  woman. 

For  a  long  time  not  a  word  was 
spoken.  Finally  David  approached  and 
took  the  man's  hand.  •      •    .  , 

"Brother,"  he  said,  "your  tears  are 
a  balm  to  my  soul.  They  have  brought 
it  peace.  Let  there  be  peace  unto  you 
also,  even  peace  in  war,  the  peace  of  a 
great  vision,  for  we  still  have  fights 
among  us  who  can  weep  also,  so  the 
day  must  come  when  they  will  fight 
their  own  fight  again.  Peace  be  unto 
you,  my  brother." 

The  soldier  turned  to  David's  father. 

"Old  man,"  he  said,  "your  candles 
are  extinguished.  Light  them  again  in 
my  presence,  and  then  Fll  be  gone." 

Tremblingly  the  old  man  pronounced 
again  the  benedictions  and  lighted  the 
candles.  •< 

And  then,  with  the  simple  greeting: 
"Peace,"  the  soldier  left  the  house. 


168 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


ZIONISM  AS  AN  EXPRESSION  OF 
JEWISH  PATRIOTISM 

By  Dr.  David  de  Sola  Pool. 


The  grounds  on  which  we  predicate 
Jewish  nationality  are  our  common  his- 
tory and  ideals,  language,  land  and 
race.  Each  of  these  elements  of  nation- 
ality is  intimately  bound  up  with  pa- 
triotism. It  is  therefore  not  without 
interest  to  inquire  what  is  the  refer- 
ence of  each  to  the  specific  expression 
of  patriotism  which  we  find  in  Zionism. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  define  the 
term  patriotism.  There  is  a  fine,  broad, 
unselfish  patriotism  that  involves  the 
merging  of  the  individual's  interest  in 
that  of  his  country  for  the  love  of  that 
country,  its  laws,  right,  institutions  and 
welfare,  as  there  is  a  raucous,  childish 
patriotism  of  flag  frenzy,  or  a  narrow, 
jealous,  rancorous  patriotism  that 
breeds  prejudice,  dissension  and  strife. 
For  the  present  we  may  accept  the  term 
patriotism  in  its  atmospheric  vagueness 
without  further  definition.  Its  implica- 
tions will  become  clearer  as  our  con- 
sideration unfolds  itself. 

Our  common  history  is  the  first  ele- 
ment of  nationality  to  attract  our  at- 
tention. 

Patriotism  is  closely  bound  up  with 
the  popular  historic  consciousness.  It 
draws  much  of  its  inspiration  from  his- 
tory. A  national  hero  lives  in  popular 
legends,  songs  and  folk  celebrations  as 
a  perpetual  stimulant  of  patriotic  spirit. 
To  this  day  on  the  Lake  of  Lucerne, 
William  Tell,  even  though  he  may  never 
have  lived,  is  commemorated  in  an  an- 
nual celebration.  To  this  day  the  more 
modern  national  hero,  Andreas  Hofer, 
living  on  in  folksongs  and  celebrations, 
inspires  the  sturdy  Tyrolese  with  patri- 
otic fervor.  "Scots  wha  hae  wi  Wal- 
lace bled,  Scots  wham  Bruce  has  often 
led,"  is  the  verse  of  Burns  voicing  the 
spirit  that  is  not  yet  dead  on  the  moors 
of  Scotland.  What  Joan  of  Arc  means 
to  the  French  people,  and  what  such 
recently  apotheosized  popular  demi- 
gods as  Bismarck,  Garibaldi,  Cavour, 
Mazzini,  Washington,  Lincoln,  Kossuth, 
Gustavus  Vasa  or  Kosciuszko  mean  to 
the    peoples    who    keep    their    memory 


green  with  patriotic  love,  is  known  to 
all. 

What,  then,  of  our  national  heroes? 
Our  Jewish  hall  of  fame  is  over- 
crowded, even  if  we  do  not  include  Hil- 
lel,  Saadya,  Rashi,  Maimonides  and  the 
large  host  of  heroes  of  spirit  who 
throng  in  our  history.  We  can  vaunt 
ourselves  on  a  noble  company  of  na- 
tional heroes,  using  the  term  national 
in  a  narrower  sense,  such  as  Judas 
Maccabaeus,  Bar  Kochba  and  all  the 
national  heroes  of  the  Bible  from  Moses 
to  Ezra.  Before  Zionism  was  born 
these  all,  with  the  exception  of  Moses, 
were  literary,  and  not  popular,  heroes. 
They  did  not  live  in  the  popular  mind 
and  heart.  Although  most  Jews  had 
heard  of  Judas  Maccabaeus  he  was  to 
them  a  name  and  a  stirring  melody 
rather  than  a  principle  and  a  personal- 
ity. Bar  Kochba,  unknown  to  the 
masses,  was  a  discredited  charlatan 
rather  than  a  hero,  even  to  those  who 
knew  his  name.  Few,  indeed,  recog- 
nized that  our  Isaiahs  or  Jeremiahs, 
besides  being  preachers  of  righteous- 
ness and  literary  prophets,  were  also 
great  patriot  heroes.  Samuel  and  Da- 
vid, and  the  other  stalwart  warrior- 
heroes  of  ancient  Israel,  were  either 
vague,  remote  shadows  from  the  past, 
or,  like  the  magnificent  figure  of  Elijah, 
were  reduced  in  the  popular  conscious- 
ness to  the  level  of  miracle-mongers. 
National  Israel  did  not  realize  that  in 
the  life  history  of  one  man  such  as 
that  of  David  there  is  the  riches  of  an 
unsurpassed,  national  epic,  capable  of 
inspiring  the  national  spirit  in  every 
man,  woman  and  child.  Is  not  the  story 
of  David  and  Goliath  at  least  the  equal 
of  the  legend  of  Saint  George  and  the 
Dragon;  the  history  of  David  and  the 
Philistines  at  least  as  heroic  as  that  of 
King  Alfred  and  the  Danes;  the  picture 
of  David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel, 
the  master  psalmist,  at  least  as  glorious 
as  that  of  King  Alfred  and  his  harp; 
the  story  of  David  the  outlaw  at  least 
as  thrilling  as  that  of  Richard  Coeur  de 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


169 


Lion;  the  notices  of  David  and  his  war- 
rior heroes  at  least  as  stimulating  as 
the  legend  of  King  Arthur  and  his 
Knights,  to  say  nothing  of  the  figure  of 
David  as  the  founder  of  the  national 
center  in  Jerusalem,  the  organizer  of 
the  national  worship,  the  fountain-head 
of  the  line  of  Israel's  royalty,  and  of  the 
other  glories  of  David's  life  and  reign? 

Yet  while  every  English  box'  from 
his  earliest  years  has  his  patriotism 
nourished  on  these  largely  fabulous 
stories  of  King  Arthur,  King  Alfred, 
King  Richard  or  Saint  George,  our  Jew- 
ish youth  has  been  reared  with  only 
the  dullest,  most  unimaginative  and 
most  uninspiring,  incomplete  knowledge 
of  David  and  our  other  national  heroes. 
There  is  no  Jew  living  who  could  not 
feel  an  ennobling  pride  in  the  thought 
of  his  more  than  Mayflower  ancestry  if 
he  but  realized  that  the  history  of  our 
nineteen  centuries  of  exile  has  been  a 
history  of  countless  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
But  the  names  and  lives  of  our  own 
Pilgrim  Fathers  young  Israel  has  not 
known  and  has  not  honored.  Our  giant 
figures  of  the  past  have  not  lived  in  the 
popular  spirit.  Their  memory  has  not 
been  an   impulse  to  Jewish   patriotism. 

It  is  one  of  the  merits  of  Zionism  that 
in  emphasizing  the  study  of  Jewish  his- 
tory it  is  teaching  us  to  give  to  our  his- 
tory a  living  interpretation.  The  great 
historic  figures  of  our  past,  who  were 
formerly  shadowy  and  remote,  are  now, 
in  Zionist  circles,  being  projected  on  to 
the  imagination  of  our  youth  as  men  of 
flesh  and  blood,  around  whom  can  and 
does  grow  up  the  noble  patriotism  of 
historic  recollection.  The  new  Jewish 
patriotism  of  hero-worship  pays  proud 
and  glowing  tribute  to  the  great- 
heartedness  and  self-sacrifice  of  the 
heroes  of  the  past.  Zionism  deserves 
well  of  the  Jewish  people  for  this  re- 
vivication  of  our  national  heroes  and 
for  its  re-interpretation  of  patriotic 
celebrations,  such  as  Chanuka  and 
Purim,  into  popular  terms  of  life.  In  a 
word,  Zionism  makes  our  historic  and 
heroic  past  live  for  our  youth.  In  its 
reference  to  history,  patriotism  may  be 
defined  as  the  popular  consciousness  of 
historic  nationality.  In  its  reference  to 
Jewish  history,  Zionism,  which  is  the 
popular    consciousness    of    our    historic 


nationality,  is  only  another  name  for 
patriotism. 

In  this  connection  we  may  pause  to 
take  notice  of  that  element  of  patriot- 
ism which  centers  in  a  national  flag.  A 
flag  is  the  symbol  of  an  independent 
nation,  "Symbol  o'er  land  and  sea  of 
the  life  of  a  happy  people,  gallant, 
strong  and  free."  When  we  marched 
from  Egyptian  slavery  to  the  freedom 
of  the  promised  land,  we  marched  for- 
ward "each  man  in  his  place  by  his 
standard."  When  the  prophet  bade  the 
exiles  return  from  the  bondage  of  Baby- 
lon to  the  freedom  of  Palestine,  he  bade 
them  "cast  up  a  highway,  gather  out 
the  stones,  lift  up  an  ensign  for  the 
peoples."  When  the  Maccabees  battled 
against  Syrian  slavery  and  won  free- 
dom for  Israel,  they  rallied  beneath  the 
famous  banner  with  which  tradition  as- 
sociates their  name.  But  in  the  nine- 
teen centuries  of  the  bondage  of  our 
Galuth  we  have  lacked  the  flag  of  Jew- 
ish freedom.  We  have  not  sailed  under 
our  own  colors.  It  is  true  that  the  enig- 
matic David  Reubeni  four  centuries  ago 
sailed  from  Italy  to  Portugal  with  a 
Jewish  flag  streaming  from  the  mast  of 
his  ship.  It  is  true  that  he  and  the 
mystic  enthusiast  Solomon  Molcho, 
whose  very  signature  was  woven  around 
a  banner,  marched  under  Jewish  ban- 
ners from  Italy  to  Ratisbon  to  meet  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.  Both  Molcho  and 
Reubeni  could  raise  aloft  the  Jewish 
flag,  because  they  were  led  on  by  the 
vision  of  a  liberated  Jewish  people.  In 
our  days  it  has  been  left  to  the  Zionists, 
inspired  by  the  dream  of  a  free  Jewish 
people,  to  re-create  the  Jewish  flag,  the 
flag  of  Jewish  historic  individuality  and 
of  Jewish  independence. 

What  a  national  flag  means  for  pa- 
triotism every  school  child  knows. 
Though  flag  patriotism,  when  excessive 
or  thoughtless,  becomes  childish  and 
hysterical,  the  flag  is  the  natural  sym- 
bol of  patriotism.  With  our  Jewish 
flag  we  also  may  honor  the  memory  of 
our  heroic  dead,  the  martyrs  of  the  Jew- 
ish people  who  died,  not  in  the  battles 
of  human  kings,  but  in  the  age-long 
battle  for  the  Divine  King.  But  our 
flag  has  a  deeper  meaning  than  have 
the  flags  of  other  nations,  in  so  far  as 
our  national  purpose  is  a  more  sancti- 


170 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


fied  one  than  are  the  missions  of  other 
peoples.  Our  flag  is  the  symbol  of  the 
Jewish  mission  of  freedom  for  the  hu- 
man spirit,  the  unity  of  mankind,  so- 
cial justice  and  peace.  It  has  been  our 
historic  destiny  to  proclaim  the  one 
God,  through  the  message  of  Palestine, 
our  land.  We  therefore,  with  consum- 
mate right,  may  adapt  for  ourselves  the 
words  of  Wendell  Phillips,  "One  God, 
one  country,  one  destiny — this  is  the 
gospel  of  Jewish  nationality."  Our  flag 
is  the  symbol  of  our  allegiance  to  Israel 
and  Israels  God  -appointed  destiny. 
Therefore,  we  blazon  our  banner  not 
with  the  heraldry  of  pomp  and  power, 
nor  with  the  memories  of  battles'  rage, 
nor  with  the  symbols  of  national  might, 
but  "in  the  name  of  our  God  we  will 
set  up  our  banners."  The  Jewish  flag 
is  not  the  symbol  of  past  battles  and 
bloodshed;  it  is  the  promise  of  the 
future  of  social  justice  and  peace.  The 
prophet  pictures  the  day  when  "the 
branch  from  the  root  of  the  stock  of 
Jesse  shall  judge  the  poor  with  right- 
eousness and  with  equity  arbitrate  for 
the  meek  of  the  earth;  when  the  wolf 
shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leop- 
ard shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and 
the  calf  and  the  young  lion  shall  graze 
together,  and  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them;  when  none  shall  hurt  or  destroy, 
for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea.  And  in  that  day  there  shall 
be  the  root  of  Jesse  standing  as  an 
ensign  unto  the  peoples;  unto  it  shall 
the  nations  seek,  and  his  place  of  rest 
shall  be  glorious."  "Where  there  is 
no  vision  the  people  perish."  The 
Swiss  flag,  in  modified  form,  has  be- 
come the  flag  of  universal  healing.  The 
Dutch  flag  may  yet  become  the  rallying 
flag  for  the  adjustment  of  international 
relationships,  as  The  Hague  becomes 
for  international  law  what  Geneva  has 
become  for  international  care  of  the 
sick  and  the  wounded.  Have  not  we 
Jews  of  today  the  vision  to  look  for- 
ward with  the  prophet,  and  work  for 
the' time  when  the  flag  of  our  own  small 
neutral  nation,  the  Jewish  flag,  shall 
become  the  flag  of  freedom,  social  jus- 
tice and  of  universal  peace,  associated 
with  Zion,  the  home  of  these  ideals?  It 
is  Jewish  patriotism  that  has  re-created 


our  flag.  Let  Jewry  march  forward 
under  this  flag,  spurred  with  the  pa- 
triotism that  shall  yet  make  of  it  the 
banner  of  social  justice,  universal  free- 
dom and  universal  peace. 

The  second  element  of  national  life 
to  demand  our  attention  is  that  of  lan- 
guage. 

There  is  no  single  agent  for  holding 
a  people  together  more  potent  than  that 
of  the  possession  of  a  common  lan- 
guage, or  even  that  of  similarity  of 
tongue.  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark 
feel  themselves  to  be  of  one  kin,  be- 
cause of  the  close  relationship  between 
their  Germanic  dialects.  Spain  and 
Portugal,  and  in  a  broader  union  also 
France  and  Italy,  are  Latin  brethren. 
England  and  the  United  States,  or 
Prance  and  Belgium,  or  Germany  and 
Austria,  are  natural  allies,  apart  from 
all  racial,  political  or  economic  con- 
siderations, because  of  their  possession 
of  a  common  language.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  Zamenhof  and  other  sponsors 
of  a  universal  language  have  insistently 
pointed  out,  the  greatest  spiritual  bar- 
rier between  peoples  is  dissimilarity  of 
tongue.  Thus  the  preservation  of  the 
Uskara  tongue  by  the  Basques  of  the 
Pyrenees  has  enabled  that  miniature 
people  to  persist  as  a  racial  and  na- 
tional entity  without  being  absorbed 
into  the  vortex  of  either  French  or 
Spanish  culture  and  national  existence. 
A  profound  truth  underlies  the  Biblical 
story  of  the  Tower  of  Babel.  Peoples 
are  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of 
all  the  earth  and  divided  one  from 
another  not  by  mountains  and  rivers, 
but  by  tongues  and  languages.  "Of 
these  were  the  isles  of  the  nations  di- 
vided in  their  lands  every  one  after  his 
tongue." 

In  the  past  we  Jews  have  been  as 
little  able  to  build  constructively  and 
unitedly  as  the  Babel  builders  after  the 
confusion  of  tongues.  But  in  recent 
years,  to  a  large  extent  owing  to  Zion- 
istic  influences,  a  popular  united  pa- 
triotism is  being  made  possible  by  the 
revival  of  bur  national  language.  The 
modern  Hebrew  movement  tends  to 
unite  all  sections  of  Jewry  throughout 
the  diaspora.  In  Zionist  circles  the 
Jews  of  the  world  are  either  giving  the- 
oretic allegiance  to  the  Hebrew  tongue 


THE    MACCABiEAN 


171 


as  their  national  speech  or  are  striving 
to  make  it  their  own  tongue.  Today, 
after  centuries  of  estrangement  brought 
about  by  the  employment  of  the  multi- 
plicity of  Galuth  languages,  the  polyglot 
Jewish  people  is  at  length  being  drawn 
together  in  spirit  through  the  medium 
of  the  unifying  Hebrew  tongue. 

We  are  beginning  to  feel  with  a  more 
vivid  sincerity  and  reality  our  kinship 
with  our  brethren  the  world  over,  in 
•the  same  spirit  as  the  Australian,  the 
Canadian,  the  South  African,  the  Jamai- 
can and  the  New  Zealander  feel  them- 
selves to  be  linked  together  in  union 
by  their  common  tongue.  Perhaps 
national  "death  and  life  are  in  the 
power  of  the  tongue." 

When  Nehemiah  was  laboring  to 
build  up  the  Jewish  nation  out  of  the 
remnants  of  the  exile,  he  would  not  tol- 
erate in  the  Jewish  midst  those  who 
"spake  half  in  the  speech  of  Ashdod, 
and  could  not  speak  in  the  Jews'  lan- 
guage, but  according  to  the  language 
of  each  people."  He  well  knew  that 
true  Jewish  patriotism,  unalloyed,  can 
find  utterance  only  in  the  true  Jewish 
idiom,  Hebrew.  The  catch-words  of 
patriotism  of  the  different  nations,  such 
phrases  as  "Liberty  and  Union,  Now 
and  Forever,  One  and  Inseparable," 
"Millions  for  defence,  but  not  one  cent 
for  tribute,"  "Our  country,  right  or 
wrong,"  "A  star  for  every  state  and  a 
state  for  every  star,"  "England  expects 
every  man  this  day  to  do  his  duty," 
"Deutschland  iiber  alles,"  or  poems  and 
stongs  such  as  "The  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner" or  "Rule  Britannia,"  and  the  more 
dignified,  national,  patriotic  literature, 
are  all  expressed  in  the  national  ton- 
gues. The  Rabshakeh's  mission  of 
shattering  the  patriotism  of  Hezekiah's 
subjects  was  doomed  to  failure,  if  for 
no  other  reason  because  "he  stood  and 
cried  with  a  loud  voice  in  the  Jews' 
language."  There  can  be  no  effective 
preaching  of  English  patriotism  to  the 
Boers  in  the  Dutch  tongue,  or  to  the 
French  Canadians  in  the  province  of 
Quebec  in  French.  Polish  patriotic 
sentiment  expressed  in  the  Russian  or 
the  German  tongue  is  an  intrinsic  in- 
sincerity. Only  the  national  language 
can  consistently  express  patriotism  and 
the  national  soul. 


In  the  past  our  national  tongue  was 
literary  and  not  living.  Therefore,  our 
Jewish  patriotism  was  of  necessity  also 
literary  and  not  living.  The  movement 
to  make  Hebrew  a  truly  living  language 
antedates  Zionism  in  its  beginnings; 
but  it  was  Zionism  which  finally  took 
away  scholastic  artificiality  from  mod- 
ern Hebrew  by  making  it  truly  vernacu- 
lar in  Palestine.  Zionism  has  definitely 
taken  Hebrew  from  the  musty  atmos- 
phere of  the  scholar's  study,  refreshed 
it  in  the  open  air  of  life  and  given  it 
in  revived  strength  to  the  populace. 
Thereby  it  has  also  taken  Jewish  pa- 
triotism out  of  the  scholar's  library, 
reinvigorated  it  and  made  it  a  living 
spirit  in  the  Hebrew-speaking  Jewish 
populace. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  re- 
marked how  Zionism  is  enriching  Jew- 
ish patriotism  and  helping  to  make  it 
a  popular  reality  by  its  creation  of 
national   songs  for  universal  Jewry. 

Hatikvah,  Mizracha  and  similar 
songs  are  sung  wherever  Jews  are  to  be 
found.  There  is  no  synagogue  melody, 
not  even  the  most  widely  spread,  that 
is  universal.  But  Hatikvah  is  now  sung 
in  the  Caucasus  and  in  Shanghai,  in 
Alaska  and  in  Morocco,  in  Bulywayo, 
New  Zealand,  Bagdad  and  the  world 
over  to  one  unitary  and  unifying  mel- 
ody. Zionistic  national  songs,  therefore, 
succeed  in  deepening  the  sense  of 
oneness  and  national  brotherhood  among 
scattered  Jewry.  But  these  songs  also 
bring  to  dispersed  Jewry  an  emotional 
appeal  which  each  passing  year  en- 
riches. The  Swiss  Guard,  when  serving 
in  foreign  lands,  were  forbidden  to  sing 
their  native  songs,  because  their  folk 
songs  wooed  the  thoughts  and  dreams 
of  the  soldiers  back  to  their  native  hills 
and  valleys  with  so  moving  a  longing  for 
home  that  the  paid  allegiance  of  these 
warriors  would  be  jeoparded.  The 
Jews  by  the  waters  of  Babylon  did  not 
need  to  be  forbidden  to  sing  the  songs 
of  Zion.  So  poignant  was  the  grief  of 
exile  that  they  hanged  their  harps  with 
rent  strings  on  the  willows  of  the 
brooks,  lest  the  songs  of  Zion  sung  in 
a  strange  land  should  rend  their  heart- 
strings in  twain.  Music  is  the  food  of 
love  of  country.  There  are  few  more 
emotional  bonds  between  the  exile  and 


172 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


his  home  than  the  songs  of  his  youth 
and  home.  National  airs  sung  by  exiles 
stir  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  emo- 
tionally and  profoundly.  Zionism,  in 
creating  universal  and  truly  national 
Jewish  songs,  is  deepening  and  emotion- 
alizing the  sentiment  of  patriotism 
among  the  Jewish  people,  a  nation  of 
exiles. 

Little  need  be  said  about  land  as  a 
factor  in  patriotism.  Patriotism,  in  a 
precise  sense,  is  a  term  with  purely  geo- 
graphical implication.  The  word  patri- 
otism means  love  of  fatherland.  There 
can,  therefore,  be  no  patriotism,  prop- 
erly so-called,  without  a  fatherland. 
One  may  be  loyal  to  a  race,  a  tradition, 
an  ideal  or  an  institution.  But  when 
the  race,  the  tradition,  the  ideal,  the 
institutions  are  conjoined  with  a  land, 
this  loyalty  is  intensified  into  patriot- 
ism by  local  definition. 

Zionism,  by  putting  Palestine  into 
the  forefront  of  Jewish  thought  and 
work,  has  elevated  Jewish  loyalty  into 
Jewish  patriotism.  The  preceding 
Galuth  generations  cherished  a  magnifi- 
cent loyalty  to  the  Jewish  people,  Jew- 
ish institutions,  the  Jewish  tradition, 
Jewish  ideals,  and  a  sentimental  loyalty 
to  Zion.  Modern  Zionism  has  given  to 
this  vague,  homeless  loyalty  a  local 
habitation  and  a  name.  Jewish  autono- 
mous colonization  on  a  large  scale  in 
Angola,  Cyrenaica,  Brazil  or  elsewhere 
outside  of  Palestine  would  give  the  Jew- 
ish people  a  Jewish  land  and  possibly 
even  Jewish  institutions.  But,  at  best, 
such  a  venture  would  be  only  terri- 
torialism  or  "landism."  The  Zionistic 
development  of  Palestine  is  giving  to 
the  Jewish  people  Jewish  traditions, 
Jewish  institutions  and  Jewish  ideals, 
all  rooted  in  the  Jewish  fatherland.  In 
a  word,  Zionism  is  giving  to  the  Jewish 
people  not  only  territorialism  or  "land- 
ism," it  is  giving  back  to  Judaism  and 
the  Jewish  people  the  sentiment  of 
patriotism  or  "fatherlandism"  in  the 
fullest  and  finest  sense  of  the  word. 

One  consideration  arises  out  of  this 
relationship  of  patriotism  to  a  native 
land  which  we  may  not  pass  over  silent- 
ly. Patriotism,  as  we  have  seen,  is  es- 
sentially bound  up  wth  a  fatherland. 
But   there   is   a   strongly   marked   tend- 


ency in  modern  thought  to  depreciate 
patriotism  by  contrasting  it  unfavorably 
with  what,  it  is  claimed,  is  the  larger 
and  nobler  ideal  of  world  patriotism. 
This  cosmopolitanism  first  found  defin- 
ite expression  in  the  writings  of  Comte. 
Comte  looked  forward  to  a  broad  syn- 
thesis which  should  transcend  lesser  pa- 
triotisms in  a  Positivist  republic  of  edu- 
cated, Western,  white  men,  bound  to- 
gether by  common  culture,  common  in- 
terests and  the  Religion  of  Humanity. 
In  this  he  consciously  followed  the  an- 
alogy of  an  ancient,  international  insti- 
tution, the  Church  of  Rome,  which  has 
always  claimed  to  be  Catholic  or  uni- 
versal. Early  Christianity,  looking  for- 
ward to  the  proximate  end  of  the  mun- 
dane order,  discounted  all  local  patri- 
otisms. "We  recognize  one  common- 
wealth, the  world,"  said  Tertullian. 
"We  know  that  we  have  a  fatherland 
founded  by  the  word  of  God,"  said  Ori- 
gen.  Even  in  pre-Christian  times,  An- 
axagoras,  whose  social  and  political 
views  were  perhaps  no  more  pleasing 
to  the  Athenians  than  were  his  astro- 
nomical teachings,  when  asked  which 
was  his  country,  pointed  to  the  skies. 

But,  as  H.  G.  Wells  has  pointed  out, 
the  history  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  clearly  indicates  to  us  the  inev- 
itable fate  of  any  international  move- 
ment or  catholic  institution.  That 
Church,  while  theoretically  one  and 
unitary,  has  in  all  centuries  multiplied 
fissiparously  into  numberless  sects,  or- 
ders, rules,  heresies,  institutions  and 
local  branches.  Every  other  attempt 
at  internationalism  must  succumb  to  the 
same  fate.  Until  a  few  months  ago,  we 
were  told  that  all  working  men  were 
brothers,  and  that  states  such  as  Ger- 
many, Italy,  Belgium  or  France,  in 
which  socialism  is  strong,  could  no  long- 
er enter  into  a  great  war  with  one  an- 
other. We  were  assured  that  labor 
would  refuse  to  shoot  against  labor  in 
the  cause  of  any  narrow  nationalism  or 
petty  patriotism,  now  that  the  broadly 
humanitarian  light  of  internationalism 
had  dawned.  But  the  tragedy  of  these 
recent  days  has  shown  us  international 
organized  labor  unquestioningly  and  to 
a  man  deserting  the  remote,  diffused 
light  of  internationalism  to  follow  the 
closer  and  more  intense  light  of  nation- 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


173 


alistic  patriotism,  just  as  Roman  Cath- 
olic is  fighting  against  Roman  Catholic, 
despite  the  claimed  catholicity  of 
Rome's  spiritual  power. 

The  reason  for  this  breakdown  of  in- 
ternationalism is  simple.  In  each  of 
us,  both  as  individuals  and  as  nations, 
there  are  two  main  tendencies  in  per- 
petual conflict —  the  heterogeneous  and 
the  homogeneous,  or  the  particularistic 
and  the  general.  In  each  of  us  there 
coexist  the  protestant  desire  for  indi- 
viduality and  the  catholic  desire.  We 
are  jealously  anxious  to  live  our  lives 
according  to  our  own  light,  while  at  the 
same  time  moving  in  harmony  with  the 
conventions  of  society  and  grouping 
ourselves  homogeneously  with  our 
neighbors.  These  two  desires  are  clear- 
ly irreconcilable  except  through  end- 
less, elastic  compromises.  The  socialist 
tries  to  ride  through  life  astraddle  two 
hobby  horses  on  different  paths  in  the 
effort  to  be  a  convinced  Frenchman  or 
German,  keenly  proud  of  his  national 
individuality,  while  at  the  same  time 
referring  himself  to  the  larger  group 
of  international  organized  labor.  Sim- 
ilarly, the  Roman  Catholic  has  to  be  an 
ardent,  nationalist  patriot,  while  pro- 
fessing allegiance  to  a  Church  which 
recognizes  no  national  boundaries.  In 
like  manner,  the  Jew  juggles  in  acro- 
batic compromise  to  be  the  patriot  of 
patriots  in  every  land,  while  all  the 
time  professing  a  universal  brotherhood 
with  his  fellow  Jews. 

Yet  when  we  examine  these  condi- 
tions a  little  more  closely  we  see  that 
there  is  involved  in  them  no  real  con- 
tradiction or  practical  difficulty.  We 
have  the  most  varied  relativity  in  our 
group  references.  We  are  all  of  us  at 
all  times  members  of  a  large  number 
of  diverse  groups.  As  a  point  may  be 
conceived  of  as  contained  within  an 
infinite  number  of  possible  circles,  so 
any  one  human  being  is  at  any  one  time 
a  member  of  a  very  large  number  of 
smaller  or  larger  human  circles.  At 
one  time  he  conceives  of  himself  as  a 
member  of  one  circle,  at  another  time 
he  acts  as  a  member  of  another.  The 
writer  of  this  can  claim  to  be  an  Ameri- 
can, an  Englishman  "and  a  Jew,  just  as 
Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff  rightly  claims  to 
be  an  American,  a  German  and  a  Jew. 


When  the  lot  was  cast  to  discover  the 
man  who  had  transgressed  at  the  cap- 
ture of  Jericho,  the  people  were  taken 
first  by  tribes,  then  by  families,  then 
by  households,  until  finally  the  indi- 
vidual was  reached.  Similarly  every 
one  of  us  may  classify  himself  by  tribes, 
families  or  households,  in  narrowing 
circles.  Each  of  us  may  regard  him- 
self as  a  member  of  humanity,  or,  with 
narrower  reference,  of  white-skinned 
humanity;  or,  still  more  narrowly,  of 
civilized,  white-skinned  humanity;  or  of 
that  sub-section  of  civilized,  white- 
skinned  humanity  known  as  the  Jewish 
people;  historic  branch  of  that  race 
Ashkenazic,  Sephardic,  Russian,  etc., 
local  branch,  American;  specific  local 
branch,  of  New  York;  more  narrowly 
defined,  of  uptown  New  York,  etc., 
within  ever  narrowing  circles  of  classi- 
fication. 

The  one  who  denounces  the  narrow- 
ness of  patriotism  as  contrasted  with 
inter-nationalism  regards  each  of  these 
progressively  narrowing  classifications 
as  betokening  increasing  prejudice  and 
lack  of  breadth  of  outlook.  Yet  each 
classification  is  true  and  necessary  in 
its  place  and  context.  The  error  of  the 
anti-patriotic  internationalist  lies  in 
trying  to  project  all  these  classifications 
on  the  one  plane.  A  child's  drawing  of 
a  landscape  will  picture  the  sun,  a 
house,  a  distant  mountain  and  a  nearby 
cow  all  on  the  same  plane.  But  give 
the  young  artist  the  elements  of  per- 
spective and  some  understanding  of  the 
third  dimension,  and  he  will  place  his 
house,  his  cow,  his  mountain  and  his 
sun  in  happy  concinnity. 

In  this  way,  again  following  the  sug- 
gestion of  H.  G.  Wells,  we  must  solve 
the  vexed  and  acrimonious  question  of 
the  relationship  of  Zionist  patriotism  to 
inter-nationalism.  Only  a  superficial 
generalization  can  brand  nationalism  as 
narrow  in  contrast  with  inter-national- 
ism. Inter-nationalism  itself  is  narrow 
in  contrast  with  a  broad  humanitarian- 
ism,  as  nationalism  or  patriotism  is 
broad  in  contrast  with  city  loyalty  or 
family  loyalty.  Each  is  good  and  fitting 
in  its  own  plane.  The  nationalist  Jew 
need  not  fear  the  criticism  which  ex- 
acerbates the  contrast  between  national- 
ism or  patriotism  and  universal  brother- 


174 


THE     MACCABiEAN 


hood.  The  contrast  is  essential  and  in- 
herent; and,  except  for  the  one  who 
tries  to  live  on  all  planes  of  life  at 
once,  the  contrast  is  supremely  unim- 
portant. Inter-nationalism,  nationalism, 
city  loyalty,  group  loyalty,  church  loy- 
alty, family  loyalty — all  are  noble 
ideals.  But  we  need  not  force  and  ex- 
aggerate the  contrast  between  any  of 
them  so  long  as  they  co-exist  on  dif- 
ferent planes. 

A  cinder  in  one's  eye  will  blot  out 
a  mountain.  Family  loyalty  or  tribe 
loyalty  because  of  their  nearness  must 
loom  larger  to  us  than  the  bigger, 
though  remoter,  ideals  of  inter-national- 
ism or  humanitarianism.  The  more 
limited  the  reference,  the  intenser  the 
feeling  it  engenders.  Family  ties  can 
be  focussed  more  strongly  than  city 
loyalty.  We  feel  more  closely  attached 
to  our  fellow  citizens  than  to  those  of 
another  town.  We  are  bound  by  a 
closer  bond  to  our  native  land  than  to 
the  land  of  our  neighbor.  Therefore 
the  broad  and  diffused  inter-nationalism 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  of  Socialism  or 
of  the  Jewish  people  always  gives  way 
when  opposed  by  the  intenser  pull  of 
nationalism.  When  Russian,  socialist 
Jews  face  Austrian  or  German,  socialist 
Jews  on  the  nationalistic  field  of  battle, 
both  the  Jewish  international  brother- 
hood and  the  socialist  international 
brotherhood  are  well-nigh  forgotten. 
Nationalism  is  a  nearer,  more  cogent, 
more  appealing  impulse  than  inter- 
nationalism, just  as  devotion  to  one's 
parents,  wife  and  children — what  we 
might  call  "familyism" — is,  because  of 
its  greater  nearness,  a  more  powerful 
motive  force  than  nationalism.  But  it 
does  not  follow  that  because  devotion  to 
all  humanity  is  good,  therefore  a 
specialized  nationalistic  devotion  to  a 
section  of  humanity  is  bad,  any  more 
than  it  follows  that  because  a  broad 
brotherhood  is  good,  therefore  a 
specialized  devotion  to  one's  wife  and 
children   is  bad. 

We  have  now  to  consider  race  in  its 
connection  with  patriotism  and  Zionism. 
The  racial  basis  of  Zionism  is  a  difficult 
and  controversial  question.  The  pre- 
tentious science  of  race  has  warped  and 
twisted  etymology,  anthropology,  eth- 
nology,   geology,    sociology    and    other 


ologies  to  its  own  ends.  So  long  as 
mankind  was  content  to  be  divided  into 
Shem,  Ham  and  Japhet,  the  world  lived 
in  comparative  peace,  untroubled  by 
academic  questions  of  race.  Over  a  cen- 
tury ago  Blumenbach  invented  the  Cau- 
casian. We  Jews  did  not  suffer  in  the 
racial  estimation  of  the  world  by  this 
invention,  because  we  were  classed 
among  the  Caucasians,  the  proud  stand- 
ard-bearers in  the  racial  world.  But 
Cuvier,  by  further  subdividing  the 
"Caucasian"  race  into  the  imposingly 
named  Indo-pelasgian,  Scytho-tartar 
and  Aramean,  succeeded  in  excluding 
us  from  the  charmed  circle  into  which 
we  longed  to  enter.  We  were  also  not 
altogether  happy  to  be  dubbed  Melano- 
chroic  by  Huxley,  although  we  then 
stood  on  the  same  ground  as  the  Kelt, 
the  South  European  and  the  Arab,  be- 
cause we  were  excluded  from  the  select 
circle  of  the  equally  formidably  named 
Xanthochroi,  the  Teuton,  the  Swede,  the 
Saxon  and  the  other  fair  white  races. 
But  the  real  trouble  began  when  Max 
Miiller,  in  a  series  of  brilliant  studies 
in  comparative  philology,  mythology 
and  the  Eastern  religions,  first  popu- 
larized the  Aryan  idea.  In  vain  did  he 
warn  that  "the  ethnologist  who  speaks 
of  the  Aryan  race,  the  Aryan  blood,  the 
Aryan  eyes  or  hair,  is  guilty  of  a  heresy 
equal  to  that  of  which  a  linguist  would 
be  guilty  if  he  spoke  of  a  dolichocepha- 
lic dictionary  or  a  brachycephalic  gram- 
mar." The  reading  public  misunder- 
stood and  took  delight  in  pointing  the 
relentless  contrast  between  the  noble 
Aryan  and  the  less  noble  Semite.  Other 
psycho-philologists,  such  as  Renan, 
summed  up  the  surprising  virtues  and 
painful  deficiencies  of  the  Semitic  char- 
acter and  soul  with  almost  meticulous 
preciseness.  Count  Gobineau  in  his 
Essai  sur  l'inegalite  des  races  humaines 
raised  the  gospel  of  racial  inequality 
almost  to  a  religion,  one  of  the  cere- 
monial duties  of  which  was  the  ex- 
termintion  of  the  supposedly  inferior 
races.  Since  the  day  of  Max  Miiller, 
Gobineau  and  Renan,  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  legendary  Aryan  and  the 
hypothetic  Semite  has  been  continually 
more  sharpened  and  embittered  by  the 
Ammons,  Houston  S.  Chamberlains  and 
Lapouge.      The   untimely   death  of  the 


THE    MACCABiEAN 


175 


noble  Aryan  did  not  in  the  lease  affect 
the  controversy,  because  the  Indo- 
European,  ceasing  to  be  a  family  of 
languages,  became  a  people  and  stepped 
into  the  Aryan's  heritage  of  all-embrac- 
ing supremacy.  The  Aryan's  children, 
the  Kelt,  the  Teuton  and  the  other  fav- 
ored races,  began  to  emerge  in  beauti- 
ful photographic  clearness. 

Later,  anthropometric  measurements 
drove  division  into  these  ranks,  and 
only  the  fair-haired  dolichocephalic 
members  of  these  races  were  crowned 
as  the  bearers  of  all  physical  excel- 
lences, mental  superiorities  and  moral 
virtues.  Thus  the  process  has  con- 
tinually narrowed  itself  down  into  ever 
smaller  and  more  exclusive  classes, 
until  the  pseudo-science  of  race  has  be- 
come little  more  than  academic  race 
prejudice,  sowing  the  wind  and  reaping 
the  whirlwind.  Race  theory  has  become 
the  fertile  mother  of  a  spawning  brood 
of  jealousies  and  contempts,  antipathies 
and  hatreds,  popularly  expressing  them- 
selves in  spurious  and  blatant  patriot- 
isms, and  which  in  the  last  instance 
have  helped  give  birth  to  the  bloody 
passion  of  licensed  massacre  which  we 
dignify  by  the  name  of  war.  Zionism, 
in  the  over-enthusiasm  of  some  of  its 
youthful  converts,  in  the  past  has  some- 
times made  a  fundamental  and  fatal 
mistake  by  placing  itself  in  line  with 
Pan-Slavism,  Pan-Magyarism,  Pan-Ger- 
manism and  similar  retrograde  and 
overstrained  racial  movements  of  blind 
pride  and  unreasoning  animosities. 
Jewish  patriotism,  if  it  would  disarm 
attack  and  purge  itself  of  all  traces  of 
prejudices  and  hatreds,  must  cease  to 
base  itself  on  the  shifting  quicksands 
of  pseudo-scientific  race  theories. 

"We  are  beginning  to  understand, 
from  a  calm  and  dispassionate  examina- 
tion of  the  thousands  of  anthropometric 
measurements  that  have  been  made  and 
from  a  thorough  sifting  of  the  claims 
made  by  the  exponents  of  the  psychol- 
ogy of  peoples,  that  race  is  not  a  defi- 
nite,  scientific  term.      The   pretentious, 


*When  Dr.  Schulman  asserts  (Jewish 
Quarterly  Review,  New  Series  V,  198)  that 
"our  nationalists  take  the  stand  of  Cham- 
berlain" on  the  question  of  race,  he  com- 
mits himself  to  a  statement  which  is  not 
only  impossible  to  prove,  but  which  is  also 
a  literary  intemperance  of  a  prejudice 
breeding  character. 


dogmatic  and  contradictory  race  the- 
ories, with  which  popular  preachers  of 
prejudice,  such  as  Houston  S.  Chamber- 
lain* have  beguiled  the  "cultured"  pub- 
lic, are  being  every  day  more  thorough- 
ly discredited.  We  are  beginning  to  see 
that  nationality  and  patriotism  must 
beware  of  the  smirch  of  race  prejudice 
masquerading  as  race  theory. 

An  anthropological  study  of  the  end- 
less morphological  varieties  of  the  Jew- 
ish people,  with  its  long-headed,  broad- 
headed,  round-headed;  tall  or  short; 
fair,  brunette,  dark  or  black-skinned 
members,  with  snub  Grecian  or  aquiline 
noses;  large,  medium  or  small  facial 
angles;  big,  medium  or  little  cranial 
capacity,  etc.,  teaches  us  unmistakably 
that  the  factor  of  physical  race  is  well- 
nigh  impotent  when  in  conflict  with  en- 
vironment and  culture.  If  race  is,  as 
Disraeli  claimed,  the  principle  of  phys- 
ical analogy,  the  Protean  Jew  can  be 
classified  under  no  heading  less  broad 
than  that  of  the  human  race.  The 
Jericho  walls  of  the  so-called  science  of 
race,  enclosing  a  mixed  multitude  of 
subjectively  interpreted  physical  meas- 
urements, irrelevant  facts  and  varying 
prejudices,  fall  into  tumbled  ruins  when 
the  Jewish  people  in  its  mixed  multi- 
tude appears  before  them.  The  Jew  in 
his  physical  types  is  the  child  of  his 
environment.  Hence,  the  innumerable 
and  widely  ranging  variations  in  phys- 
ical type  to  be  found  in  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple. Hence,  the  utter  failure  of  race 
theorists  to  make  the  Jew  fit  their  Pro- 
crustean standards.  Hence,  also,  the 
barren  futility  of  trying  to  found  Jew- 
ish patriotism  on  any  racial  theories. 

Similarly  a  psychological  study  of  the 
Jewish  people  with  its  endless  varieties 
and  types  of  character,  mind  and  spirit, 
teaches  us  unmistakably  that  there  are 
as  many  differing  race  psychologies  of 
the  Jew  as  there  are  minyans  in  Israel. 

Although  the  Jew  in  some  measure 
takes  his  mental  and  moral  environment 
with  him  in  all  his  dispersion,  the  mod- 
ern, emancipated  Jew  is  far  more  the 
child  of  his  environment  and  its  culture 
than  of  his  hereditary  qualities.  Anti- 
semitism,  or  to  translate  this  academic 
name  into  its  true  form,  anti-Jewism, 
in  positing  a  Jewish  type  of  mind  and 
character,  posits  a  non-entity.  The 
Jewish  mental  and  moral  types,  like  the 
Jewish  physical  types,  fulfill  the  ancient 


176 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


blessing  of  Abraham  in  being  numerous 
as  the  stars  of  the  heaven  or  the  sand 
upon  the  seashore.  Hence,  the  utter 
failure  of  the  science  of  the  psychology 
of  peoples  to  analyze  and  label  the  Jew- 
ish people. 

In  the  past  this  physical,  mental  and 
moral  variety  of  the  elements  constitut- 
ing Jewry  has  been  a  source  of  weak- 
ness in  the  patriotism  of  the  Jew,  in 
the  case  of  both  his  patriotism  towards 
the  land  of  his  sojourn  and  of  his  Jew- 
ish patriotism.  So  long  as  the  Jew  was 
so  largely  the  creature  of  his  milieu, 
his  patriotism  was  as  fluctuating  as  his 
type.  His  was  an  environmental  patri- 
otism that  changed  every  time  he 
crossed  a  national  border.  Zionism  has 
wrought  a  profound  change  in  the  Jew's 
conception  of  patriotism.  It  has  left 
him  his  old  environmental  patriotism, 
but  it  has  reared  it  upon  the  firm  and 
permanent  foundation  of  an  inner,  es- 
sential Jewish  patriotism.  It  has  said 
to  the  amorphous  Jew:  "You  now  have 
before  you  the  possibility  of  developing 
your  own  type  or  types  in  your  own 
milieu,  no  longer  being  only  a  parasite 
on  the  environment  and  culture  of  the 
world  wherever  you  chance  to  dwell. 
You  have  played  the  chameleon  long 
enough.  The  Ethiopian  might  change 
his  skin  by  emigration,  but  he  usually 
has  too  much  love  of  country,  or  patri- 
otism, to  do  so.  It  has  been  left  for  you 
to  render  yourself  paltry  and  ridiculous 
by  being  a  true  born  Russian  or  German 
in  your  youth  and  then  suddenly  ap- 
pearing as  a  Yankee,  an  English  squire 
or  a  Highland  chieftain.  You  have 
been  perilously  like  the  facial  contor- 
tionist who  shows  twenty  faces  under 
one  hat.  The  world  had  begun  almost 
to  wonder  if  you  had  a  face  that  was 
truly  your  own,  when  it  saw  you  thank 
your  Creator  if  your  type  happened  to 
be  assimilated  to  that  of  your  neighbor. 
In  the  future  you  will  learn  to  be  pre- 
possessed in  favor  of  what  you  call  the 
recognizable  Jewish  types,  instead  of 
being  prejudiced  against  them,  as  you 
were  so  long  as  you  flushed  with  pleas- 
ure when  you  were  told  that  you  did 
not  look  like  a  Jew.  Your  local  patriot- 
ism was  ardent,  but — will  you  permit 
me  to  say  it? — often  grotesque.  Your 
patriotic  ardor  was  rather  overworked. 


It  was  open  to  suspicion  because  of  the 
ease  with  which  you  changed  it  as  you 
wandered  from  clime  to  clime.  Have 
you  forgotten  Dr.  Johnson's  remark 
that  patriotism  is  the  last  refuge  of  a 
scoundrel?  In  the  future  your  local 
patriotism  will  grow  strongly  and 
naturally  out  of  your  Jewish  patriotism. 
You  will  not  be  ashamed  to  go  to  the 
battle  front,  as  some  of  your  Zionistic 
brethren  are  doing,  flying  both  the  flag 
of  your  land  of  residence  and  the  flag 
of  Zion.  The  world  will  see  therein  the 
guarantee  of  a  true,  deeply  founded, 
permanent  patriotism.  It  will  say  that 
the  man  who  is  true  to  his  God  and  to 
the  land  sanctified  to  him  by  his  God 
will  be  true  to  the  land  of  his  sojourn. 
The  world  will  trust  you,  because  to 
your  own  self  you  will  be  true." 

We  have  glanced  at  Zionism  as  an 
expression  of  Jewish  patriotism  in  its 
relation  to  the  threefold  cord  of  history, 
language  and  land,  also  in  its  supposed 
association  with  race.  It  may  not  be 
out  of  place  to  devote  a  word  to  the 
danger  that  confronts  Zionism  as  an 
expression  of  patriotism. 

The  inherent  weakness  in  patriotism 
is  its  tendency  to  beget  prejudice.  Pa- 
triotism involves  a  classification  on 
national  lines.  But  the  human  mind  is 
so  constituted  that  every  grouping  or 
classification  tends  to  foster  a  preju- 
dice. If  the  family,  the  city,  the  group, 
the  class,  the  religious  brotherhood,  the 
country  to  which  we  belong  is,  to  our 
way  of  thinking,  good  and  desirable, 
wholly  illogical  though  it  is,  we  are 
given  to  thinking  all  other  families, 
groups,  classes,  cities,  religious  brother- 
hoods or  countries  as  undesirable,  in  so 
far  as  they  are  not  our  own.  Our  men- 
tal constitution  is  such  that  it  is  only 
the  very  highly  trained  mind  and  per- 
sonality which  can  habitually  recognize 
that  other  families,  groups,  classes, 
cities,  brotherhoods  and  countries  may 
have  virtues  of  their  own  which  ours 
do  not  possess  and  which  make  them 
the  equal  of  ours  in  general  desirabil- 
ity. We  instinctively  mistrust  or  dislike 
every  group  that  is  not  our  own.  The 
Englishman,  the  Prussian,  the  Magyar, 
the  Czech,  and  we  may  confidently  add 
the  Basuto,  the  Patagonian,  the  Eskimo 
and  the  members  of  all  tribes   and  na- 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


177 


tionalities  peopling  the  world,  are  prone 
to  make  their  lives  one  paean  of  patri- 
otic thankfulness  that  they  have  not 
been  created  like  their  neighbors. 
Oliver  Goldsmith  could  write: 
"Such   is   the   patriot's   boast,   where'er 

we  roam, 
His  first,  best  country,  ever  is  at  home." 

There  is  a  characteristic  story  told  of 
a  Sunday  school  pupil  who  was  asked, 
"Who  was  the  first  man?"  "George 
Washington,"  he  replied,  "first  in  war, 
first  in  peace" —  "No,"  interrupted  the 
teacher,  "Adam  was  the  first  man." 
"Aw!"  replied  the  lad,  "I  didn't  know 
you  were  talking  of  foreigners."  Our 
patriotisms  implicitly  exclude,  reject 
and  pour  scorn  on  other  patriotisms. 
Civilized  human  nature  has  not  prog- 
ressed appreciably  beyond  where  it 
stood  in  the  time  of  the  ancient  Greeks, 
who  genially  classified  all  non-Greeks 
as  "barbarians." 

This  weakness  for  excessive  contrast 
pervades  all  our  mental  classifications, 
and  is  inherent  in  any  mental  group- 
ings of  individuals  or  peoples.  The  dan- 
ger of  exacerbating  these  inevitable 
contrasts  into  prejudices  is  a  real  one. 
Such  prejudices  may  be  aggravated  into 
family  feuds,  social  revolution,  relig- 
ious persecution  or  national  wars.  But 
in  the  case  of  the  classifications  involved 
in  patriotism,  there  is  far  less  danger 
of  pernicious  prejudices  arising  than  in 
the  case  of  religious  affiliation.  When 
all  that  men  hold  sacred  seems  to  be 
at  stake,  when  beliefs  touching  their 
deepest  feelings  are  in  conflict,  when 
sect  meets  sect  and  the  points  of  sec- 
tarian difference  are  put  into  the  fore- 
ground, a  "holy"  war  is  inevitable.  It 
is  well  when  such  a  clash  is  limited  to 
literary  polemics.  But  religion  may 
not  be  branded  as  bad  because  in  its 
name  so  many  bitter  prejudices  have 
been  engendered.  Far  less  may  patriot- 
ism be  branded  as  bad  and  barbaric  be- 
cause in  its  name  minor  and  trivial 
prejudices  have  been  engendered.  The 
prejudices  born  of  patriotism  are  in- 
deed few  and  paltry  in  comparison  with 
those  born  of  religion. 

Similarly  we  find  that  patriotic  preju- 
dices are  weak  and  sterile  in  compari- 
son with  those  arising  from  individual 
or  family  groupings.     The  bitterest  feud 


is  the  narrowest.  In  the  feud  between 
two  individual  enemies  the  contrasts 
are  usually  most  sharply  defined.  It 
is  human  nature  to  hate  a  personal 
enemy  with  all  one's  heart,  with  all 
one's  soul  and  all  one's  might.  In  a 
family  feud  the  lines  begin  to  be  some- 
what blurred.  A  family  may  be  hated 
in  a  workmanlike  way,  but  we  scarcely 
regard  all  the  members  of  the  obnoxious 
family  as  fiends  incarnate.  When  the 
reference  of  hostility  is  considerably 
broadened,  as  in  national  rivalries  and 
disputes,  the  enmity,  in  gaining  enor- 
mously in  extension,  loses  correspond- 
ingly in  intensity.  We  can  hate  an  in- 
dividual; we  dislike  a  family;  but  for 
a  whole  nation  our  hatred  or  dislike  is 
thinned  out  into  contempt. 

This  comparative  weakness  of  the 
prejudice  against  a  whole  nation  is  due 
to  the  endless  variety  of  the  elements 
composing  a  nation.  Even  in  the  inani- 
mate world  things  can  rarely  be  classi- 
fied simply  and  finally  under  a  definite 
heading.  Things  are  not  simply  hard 
or  soft,  sweet  or  bitter,  useful  or  use- 
less, etc.  There  are  an  infinite  number 
of  degrees  of  hardness  or  sweetness  or 
usefulness.  Absolute  hardness  or  abso- 
lute softness  is  only  a  mental  concept 
without  any  corresponding  expression 
in  the  world  of  reality.  If  this  is  true 
of  inert  things,  it  is  far  more  evidently 
true  of  human  beings  with  their  in- 
finitely complex  personalities.  Men  are 
not  simply  good  or  bad,  or  wise  or 
foolish.  We  are  all  good  and  bad,  wise 
and  foolish.  The  maxims  of  the  book 
of  Proverbs  which  contrast  the  fool 
with  the  wise,  or  the  wicked  with  the 
righteous,  and  the  sayings  of  the  Rabbis 
contrasting  the  Am  Haarets  with  the 
scholar,  fall  with  tremendous  weight  on 
the  wicked,  the  fool  or  the  Am  Haarets, 
because  the  antithesis  is  drawn  between 
those  most  intolerable,  if  not  impossi- 
ble, types,  the  unqualified  sinner  and 
the  consummately  virtuous  man,  or  the 
absolute  fool  or  Am  Haarets  and  the 
unmitigated  wise  man.  Individuals 
cannot  justly  be  defined  and  classified 
with  this  simplicity;  and  a  nation  or 
people,  composed  of  an  aggregation  of 
individuals,  each  of  whom  is  of  inex- 
tricable complexity,  must  be  of  infinite 
multifariousness.      There    can   be   little 


178 


THE     MACCAB/EAN 


danger  from  prejudices  which  have  to 
be  beaten  out  thin  enough  to  cover  a 
whole   people. 

It  was  Burke,  in  his  speech  on  the 
conciliation  of  America,  who  declared: 
"I  do  not  know  the  method  of  drawing 
up  an  indictment  against  a  whole  peo- 
ple." Long  before  Burke,  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  had  written:  "There  is  another 
offence  unto  charity  .  .  .  and  that 
is  the  reproach,  not  of  whole  profes- 
sions, mysteries  and  conditions,  but  of 
whole  nations,  wherein,  by  opprobrious 
epithets,  we  miscall  each  other,  and  by 
an  uncharitable  logic  from  a  disposition 
in  a  few  conclude  a  habit  in  all  .  .  . 
For  by  a  word  we  wound  a  thousand, 
and  at  one  blow  assassinate  the  honor 
of  a  nation." 

The  bewildering  variety  and  unan- 
alyzable  complexity  of  every  nation  is 
the  condition  that  counteracts  the  vice 
inherent  in  patriotic  classification  to 
sharpen  and  aggravate  prejudices.  All 
nations  on  a  smaller  plane  of  culture 
and  civilization  have  far  more  that  is 
in  common  than  that  is  individual.  This 
strong  family  likeness  between  modern 
peoples  ensures  that  there  can  be  no 
lasting  hatreds  arising  out  of  patriot- 
ism. Jealous  and  unfriendly  nations 
are  not  comparable  with  cats  and  mice, 
or  with  cats  and  dogs,  each  bearing  an 
instinctive,  traditional  mistrust  and  ha- 
tred against  the  other.  They  are  all 
of  the  same  genus  and  the  same  type. 
There  are  consequently  no  causal,  in- 
eradicable, patriotic  hatreds.  In  these 
days  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  only  ten 
or  fifteen  years  ago  England  and  France 
regarded  each  other  as  historical  foes, 
inheriting  a  tradition  of  centuries  of 
active  enmity.  Today  the  peoples  of 
these  two  lands  regard  each  other  as 
brethren.  The  relationships  of  Eng- 
land with  Germany,  England  with  Rus- 
sia, Russia  with  Japan,  etc.,  and  all 
the  modern  kaleidoscopic,  international 
courtships  or  divorces,  both  in  the 
chancelleries  and  among  the  masses,  are 
unstable  as  water  and  fleeting  and  vague 
as  the  foam  of  the  sea.  Browning's 
poem,  "It  was  roses,  roses  all  the  way," 
expresses  the  even  more  patent  truth 
that  the  hero,  today  worshipped  by  the 
masses  as  the  supreme  patriot,  next  year 
may  be  dragged  to  the  scaffold,  branded 


as  a  traitor  by  the  fickle  mob.  Patriotic 
prejudices  have  no  stability.  There  can 
be  little  lasting  danger  from  prejudices 
which,  in  a  constant  state  of  flux,  dis- 
solve into  one  another  or  break  down 
into  favorable  prepossessions. 

Therefore,  we  need  not  fear  that 
Zionism,  in  awakening  Jewish  patriot- 
ism, will  add  rancor  to  the  feeling 
against  either  the  Jew  or  the  non-Jew. 
Such  prejudice  as  the  non-Jew  feels 
against  the  Jew  or  as  the  Jew  feels 
against  the  non-Jew  is,  we  have  seen, 
inherent  in  any  grouping  of  peoples. 
Only  our  national  suicide  could  remove 
it.  It  is  not  patriotism  which  kindles 
the  prejudices;  it  is  our  defined  na- 
tional existence.  The  classification  of 
humanity  into  Jew  and  non-Jew  trails 
after  it  in  the  mind  of  either  group  a 
certain  inevitable  prejudice  against  the 
other.  Though  the  religious  differences 
involved  in  the  classification  may  and 
do  stir  up  prejudices  of  ominous  force, 
the  patriotic  differences  involved  will 
not  add  appreciably  to  such  estrange- 
ment as  may  exist.  If  the  possibility 
that  the  rebirth  of  Jewish  pariotism 
will  add  to  or  create  prejudice  be  suf- 
ficent  ground  for  condemning  Jewish 
patriotism,  how  much  the  more  strongly 
must  we  condemn  the  religions  through 
which  prejudices  grow  to  dangerous 
proportions.  If  patriotism  must  be  rele- 
gated to  the  class  of  evils  because  of 
the  comparatively  weak  and  ineffective 
prejudices  which  grow  up  under  it,  then 
religon  also  must  assuredly  be  abolished 
because  of  the  deep  lying  and  ©fttimes 
violent  prejudices  which  grow  up  in  its 
name. 

The  real  danger  that  confronts  Zion- 
ism as  the  expression  of  Jewish  patriot- 
ism is  not  that  it  may  propagate  preju- 
dice, but  that  it  may  become  parochial 
and  narrow.  Patriotism  remains  a  no- 
ble quality  until  it  turns  in  on  itself. 
In  the  world  today  with  its  universal 
rapprochement  of  peoples  it  is  an  an- 
achronism to  be  provincially  patriotic. 
No  modern  nation  can  live  its  own  life 
and  develop  its  own  exclusive  culture, 
as  if  it  were  isolated  on  the  highlands 
of  Thibet  or  immured  behind  a  Chinese 
wall.  The  intricate  network  of  inter- 
national trade  is  proving  that  Cobden 
and  the  first  free-traders  were  right  in 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


179 


their  contention  that  through  the  com- 
mercial interdependence  of  all  coun- 
tries, jealous  patriotisms  would  ulti- 
mately be  purified  and  robbed  of  their 
discords  and  animosities.  Kipling 
might  have  said  that  "there  is  neither 
East  nor  West,  Border  nor  Breed  nor 
Birth,  when  bills  of  lading  lie  on  your 
desk,  tho'  they  come  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth."  The  universal  interdepend- 
ence of  learning,  science  and  the  arts  of 
peace  have  also  helped  to  broaden  the 
medieval  idea  of  patriotism  almost  be- 
yond recognition.  Even  definitely  na- 
tional literatures,  national  musics  and 
national  arts  can  no  longer  be  purely 
indigenous.  Zionists  need  not  fear  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  skill  and  experi- 
ence of  the  modern  Hirams  in  build- 
ing up  their  spiritual  center.  With  a 
strong  national  and  patriotic  feeling 
there  will  always  be  Bezalels  and  Oholi- 
abs  to  work  up  material,  from  whatso- 
ever source  it  comes,  into  an  artistic 
consistent,  Jewish  whole  and  suffuse  it 
with  the  Jewish  spirit.  Our  national- 
ism and  our  patriotism  need  to  be  strong 
if  we  are  to  assimilate  to  our  Jewish 
selves  that  which  the  modern  world 
contributes  to  our  culture  and  our 
being.  But  we  must  beware  of 
trying  to  intensify  our  Jewish  patriot- 


ism over  much  in  the  first  flush  of  Zion- 
istic  enthusiasm.  Narrowness  of  patri- 
otism is  a  fault  which  time  and  success 
will  correct.  When  we  are  more  sure 
of  our  Jewish  selves,  our  patriotism  will 
become  broad  and  inclusive.  In  the 
weakness  of  our  present  constructive 
period,  the  patriot  in  Galuth  who,  when 
with  Jews,  refuses  to  speak  or  write 
any  other  language  but  Hebrew,  is  a 
striking  figure  of  immeasurable  na- 
tionalistic and  patriotic  force.  But  he 
is  not  the  type  that  will  survive.  Not 
even  the  Palestinian  Jew  who  will  speak 
with  fellow  Jews  either  Hebrew  or  no 
other  tongue  will  be  the  type  to  sur- 
vive. So  long  as  we  are  slowly  and 
laboriously  building  and  testing  our 
strength,  such  men  are  among  our 
strongest  resources.  But  when  we  shall 
have  built  up  a  present  that  shall  as- 
sure our  future,  we  shall  boast  a  Jew- 
ish patriotism  that  is  deeply  founded, 
broad  and  unselfish,  a  patriotism  with- 
out rancor  or  prejudice,  a  patriotism 
born  of  loyalty  to  our  Jewish  tradition, 
loyalty  to  our  Jewish  history,  loyalty 
to  our  Jewish  language,  loyalty  to  our 
Jewish  institutions,  loyalty  to  our  Jew- 
ish ideals  and  devotion  to  our  Jewish 
patria,  Palestine. 


Hadassah  at  St.   Paul. 


Mr.  Jacob  de  Haas  of  Boston  was 
the  guest  of  the  Lady  Zionists,  St.  Paul 
Chapter,  of  Hadassah,  for  three  days  in 
the  early  part  of  October. 

On  Monday  evening,  October  12, 
1914,  he  spoke  informally  at  the  Tem- 
ple of  Aaron  after  the  "Simchas  Torah," 
services,  and  on  Tuesday  night  his  lec- 
ture was  given  at  the  Congregation 
Sons  of  Jacob,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Lady  Zionists,  to  an  audience  of 
about  four  hundred  people. 

Mr.  de  Haas  spoke  with  his  usual 
earnestness,  and  the  audience  could  not 
help  but  feel  the  personality  of  the 
man  as  he  gave  to  them,  in  as  few 
words  as  were  necessary,  his  share  in 
the  burden  of  Zionism  up  to  the  present 
time  and  now  under  the  stress  of  the 
terrible  conditions  in  Europe  and  Pal- 


estine through  the  dreadful  war.  He 
dwelt  on  the  progress  of  the  movement 
up  to  date  and  gradually  led  up  to  the 
appeal  for  the  present  contingency  and 
future  needs,  for  the  "Zionists  hope  to 
care  for  many  who  will  be  homeless 
after  the  war." 

At  the  collection  which  the  club  made 
at  the  meeting  a  goodly  sum  was  re- 
alized, the  Lady  Zionists  heading  the 
list  with  $50  from  the  club  treasury 
and  $25  more  raised  by  taxing  the 
members.  The  officers,  however,  were 
not  satisfied  with  the  result,  and  at  the 
regular  club  meeting,  which  was  held 
the  following  night,  a'  committee  was 
appointed  to  continue  the  collection 
among  the  clubs  and  lodges  and  people 
who  had  not  previously  contributed,  and 
the  total  contributions  was  brought  up 
to  the  sum  of  $295. 


180 


THE     MACCAByEAN 


TO  MELT  OR  NOT  TO  MELT 

By  M.  Simon. 


Thanks  to  Mr.  Zangwill,  we  all  know 
now  that  America  is  the  "melting  pot" 
of  nationalities.  Many  and  varied  are 
the  races  and  languages  which  find  shel- 
ter within  her  hospitable  shores.  For 
a  while  they  may  live  on  side  by  side 
together  amicably;  but  their  adopted 
country  is  all  the  time  subjecting  them 
to  some  subtle  alchemy  which  gradu- 
ally renders  them  indistinguishable 
from  each  other,  fuses  them  into  a  com- 
mon amalgam  and  imprints  on  all  the 
stamp  and  title  of  American.  And, 
says  Mr.  Zangwill,  speaking  particular- 
ly on  behalf  of  the  Jews,  this  is  en- 
tirely as  it  should  be;  and  the  more 
readily  they  concur  in  this  melting  pro- 
cess and  its  results,  the  better  it  will 
be  for  them  and  for  America. 

Let  us  examine  a  little  more  closely 
the  nature  of  this  alchemy. 

Unquestionably  the  chief  element  is 
it — if  one  may  say  so  without  offence — 
is  the  DOLLAR,  the  instrument  of  ma- 
terial comfort  and  well-being,  and  of 
the  power  to  assist  others.  America  is 
essentially  a  "dollar  chasing"  country, 
and  the  race  for  dollars  is  open  to  all 
entrants  on  much  more  equal  terms 
than  in  any  European  country.  In  this 
field  America  offers  on  the  whole  la  car- 
riere  onverte  aun  talente,  and  we  might 
say  (to  copy  the  words  of  Napoleon) 
that  every  clerk  carries  a  millionaire's 
bank  book  in  his  coat  pocket.  Small 
wonder,  then,  that  everyone  joins  in  the 
race,  and  that  no  false  pride  is  ex- 
hibited in  concealing  or  distorting  the 
fact. 

To  characterize  America  as  a  "dol- 
lar chasing"  country  is  not  to  cast  any 
slur  upon  it  or  to  assign  to  it  any  in- 
feriority to  the  countries  of  Europe. 
To  make  the  chasing  of  dollars  the  first 
object  of  the  national  life  certainly  im- 
plies a  materialistic  outlook;  but  it  is 
consistent  with  a  very  high  stage  of 
humanity  and  civilization — two  assets 
in  which  America  undoubtedly  shows  a 
marked  superiority  over  Europe.  This, 
the  higher  side  of  American  life,  is  se- 
cured to  her  by  her  religion.     The  im- 


mense variety  of  sects  in  America  may 
be  in  some  of  its  manifestations  a  sub- 
ject of  merriment,  but  it  shows  the  deep 
fund  of  religious  feeling  that  exists  in 
the  people.  And  the  fact  that  this  di- 
vergence of  sects  has  not  in  any  way 
disturbed  the  peace  of  the  country,  or 
led  to  any  bitterness  or  dissension, 
shows  that  all  the  churches  must  be 
agreed  on  some  fundamental  principle, 
by  the  side  of  which  the  points  in  which 
they  differ  are  of  minor  importance. 
This  principle,  it  is  easy  to  see,  is  that 
of  Theism  or  Unitarianism,  the  belief 
that  God  exists,  and  that  there  is  only 
one  God.  Broadly  speaking,  this  belief 
is  held  with  much  greater  force 
throughout  America  than  the  other 
tracts  which  accompany  it  in  the  vari- 
ous churches;  it  is  the  thing  on  which 
preachers  lay  stress,  and  forms  the 
great  spiritual  bond  of  union  of  the 
American  people — the  second  great  ele- 
ment in  the  alchemy  of  assimilation. 
Not  unjustly  does  the  American  dollar 
bear  the  legend  "In  God  we  trust." 
The  ethical  principle  is  no  less 
diffused  through  the  nation  than  the 
material  symbol,  and  is  no  less  potent 
an  influence  in   the  national   life. 

How  stands  it  with  the  Jews  in  the 
face  of  this  assimilative  pressure?  Are 
they  capable  of  being  fused  into  the 
amalgam,  and  if  so,  is  this  the  highest 
ideal  that  they  can  propose  to  them- 
selves in  the  New  World?  To  answer 
this  question  it  is  necessary  first  to  di- 
vide the  Jews  of  America  into  two  main 
classes,  according  as  the  country  of 
their  origin  is  Germany  or  Russia.  The 
Jews  who  have  immigrated  into  Ameri- 
ca from  Germany  during  the  first  half 
century  have,  as  a  rule,  brought  with 
them  both  the  capacity  and  the  desire 
to  assimilate.  They  have  on  the  one 
hand  achieved  considerable  success  in 
the  hunt  for  dollars,  and  they  have,  in 
American  Reformed  Judaism,  developed 
a  kind  of  Theism  which  is  fully  worthy 
of  the  country,  and  in  its  ethical  value 
quite  on  a  level  with  the  Theism  of  the 
Christian  Church.      The   average  "tem- 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


181 


pie"  is  quite  an  American  institution, 
and  the  Jewish  flavor  which  still  clings 
to  it,  whether  more  or  less  pronounced, 
does  not  prevent  those  who  attend  it 
from  regarding  themselves  as  fully  as- 
similated. 

But  with  the  Russo-Jewish  immi- 
grants— and  their  numbers  are  now  so 
preponderating  that  one  has  almost  to 
look  on  them  as  the  Jews  of  America 
par  excellence — the  case  is  different.  A 
large  number  of  these  have  brought 
with  them  neither  the  capacity  nor  the 
desire  to  "be  melted."  On  the  one 
hand  they  are  hampered  by  their  lan- 
guage, with  which  they  can  scrape  along 
well  enough  if  they  add  to  it  a  perfunc- 
tory acquaintance  with  English  for  busi- 
ness purposes.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
a  result  of  their  early  education  and 
training,  they  are  still  haunted,  as  it 
were,  by  some  remnants  of  a  conception 
of  life  in  which  "dollar  chasing"  has  no 
part,  and  of  a  religion  in  which  the 
God-idea  is  not  that  of  a  lukewarm  and 
universalist  Theism,  but  of  an  intense 
and  nationalist  monotheism.  They 
bring  with  them  an  idealistic  concep- 
tion of  life,  and  so  long  as  they  retain 
their  language  and  their  orthodox  syna- 
gogue they  never  part  with  this  en- 
tirely, whatever  concessions  they  may 
have  to  make  to  American  materialism. 
Although  their  bodies  are  in  America, 
their  minds  are  more  or  less  still  in 
"der  Heim";  they  come  to  the  brink  of 
the  melting  pot,  but  do  not  tumble  in. 

The  real  problem  arises  with  the  chil- 
dren of  these  men;  and,  as  was  pointed 
out  in  the  "Times"  some  time  ago,  it 
is  a  problem  of  the  utmost  gravity,  not 
only  for  the  Jews  themselves,  but  for 
the  whole  American  people.  This  rising 
generation  has  capacities  both  for  good 
and  for  evil  probably  transcending 
those  of  any  other  section  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  On  the  one  hand,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  young  American 
Jew  shows  a  dangerous  facility  for  im- 
bibing one-half  of  the  teaching  of 
American  life — the  "dollar  chasing" 
idea — while  remaining  quite  impervious 
to  its  corrective  ethical  principle  of 
theism.  On  the  other  hand,  he  has  in 
the  traditions  of  his  race,  and  to  some 


slight  extent  in  the  example  of  his  par- 
ents and  grandparents,  the  incentive  to 
something  higher  than  America  at  its 
best  can  show  him — to  an  idealistic 
outlook  on  life,  and  to  a  religion  that 
shall  be  not  merely  an  ethical,  but  an 
intellectual  influence  as  well.  It  is  in 
the  hand  of  the  Jew  either  to  lower  or 
to  raise  the  tone  of  American  life  in 
general — to  develop  and  emphasize 
either  its  material  or  its  spirtual  side. 
And  it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  rising 
generation  of  American  Jews,  of  Russo- 
Jewish  parentage,  will  do  one  or  both 
of  these  things;  it  will  not  merely  be 
fused  into  the  amalgam,  like  the  gen- 
eration of  German  or  English  stock 
which  preceded  it. 

For  good  or  for  evil,  then,  the  rising 
generation  of  Jews  in  America  is  not 
likely  to  prove  so  amenable  to  the 
alchemy  of  the  "melting  pot"  as  Mr. 
Zangwill  seems  to  think.  Their  resist- 
ance will  be  for  evil  if,  so  to  speak, 
they  become  merely  melted  without  be- 
ing fused;  that  is,  if  they  lose  their 
distinguishing  Jewish  characteristics, 
and  receive  in  exchange  only  the  lower, 
the  nationalist  half  of  American  civili- 
zation, without  the  ethical  idea  which 
serves  as  its  counterpart  and  corrective. 
It  will  be  for  good  if  (to  continue  the 
metaphor)  they  become  fused  without 
being  melted;  that  is,  if  they  acquire 
all  the  externals  of  Americans  while 
retaining  the  idealistic  outlook  on  life 
which  is  the  heritage  of  their  people. 
Hoc  opus,  hie  labor  est.  That  a  large 
number,  perhaps  the  majority,  will  fol- 
low the  first  of  these  courses,  it  is  hard- 
ly possible  to  doubt.  It  is,  therefore, 
necessary,  in  order  to  redress  the  bal- 
ance, that  a  select  few,  the  "remnant 
of  Israel,"  should  make  the  toilsome 
ascent  which  leads  to  the  spirtual,  if 
not  to  the  physical,  Zion. 

Jewish  legend  relates  that  the  Holy 
Land  was  promised  to  Abraham  only 
after  he  had  passed  through  the  fiery 
furnace  and  come  out  unscathed.  It 
may  be  that  the  Promised  Land  is  once 
more  destined  for  that  part  of  the  seed 
of  Abraham  which  shall  pass  through 
the  "melting  pot"  of  modern  America 
and  not  be  melted. 


182 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


AN  EVENING  WITH  ACHAD  HA'AM 

By  Joseph  L.  Cohen. 


Away  from  the  aggressively  respecta- 
ble sections  of  Hampstead,  and  situ- 
ated among  wide,  quiet  streets  with 
fine  large  houses,  in  a  section  occupied 
by  successful  merchants  and  profes- 
sional men,  the  writer  of  this  article 
found  the  house  of  Achad  Ha'am.  It 
was  with  an  almost  overpowering  sense 
of  nervousness  that  he  opened  the  gate. 
For  although  it  was  a  great  privilege  to 
meet  him,  it  yet  filled  one  with  awe 
when  his  significance  to  the  Jewish  com- 
munity was  realized.  Moreover,  since 
many  of  those  who  had  won  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  Congresses  were  hon- 
ored and  proud  to  be  associated  with 
him,  a  "Junior  Zionist"  felt  all  the  more 
what  a  "zchus"  it  was  to  be  enabled  to 
call  on  him. 

To  meet  a  Jewish  leader,  or  an  able 
speaker,  a  great  writer,  a  profound 
scholar,  a  cultured  business  man,  or  a 
widely  traveled  student  would  have 
been  a  privilege,  and  in  preparation  for 
it  one  would  have  given  oneself  a  men- 
tal bracing.  When,  however,  one  was 
to  meet  a  man  who  embodied  the  char- 
acteristics not  of  one  or  two  of  such 
personalities,  but  of  them  all,  it  was 
indeed  sufficient  to  make  one  quake. 

Fortunately  there  was  no  cause  for 
fears.  Mr.  Ginzberg  was  just  leaving  his 
house  with  a  friend,  a  well  known  Rus1 
sian  Zionist,  to  take  a  walk,  when  I 
called.  They  were  talking  Russian. 
His  kindly  face  and  "  genial  welcome 
were  reassuring.  "Yes,  he  was  expect- 
ing me,"  he  said,  "and  was  glad  that  I 
called  earlier  than  was  usual  for  call- 
ers." He  would  be  happy  if  I  accom- 
panied them.  "No,  you  do  not  speak 
Russian?"  he  asked.  "No."  Mr.  Ginz- 
berg and  his  friend  easily  slipped  into 
English. 

At  the  top  of  the  street  a  poor  beg- 
gar boy  came  up  to  us  and  asked  for 
help.  I  recall  Mr.  Ginzberg  taking  his 
purse  out  and  giving  him  a  coin.  It 
was  his  manner — the  slow  deliberate 
way  in  which  he  did  things — that  soon 
occurred  to  me  as  characteristic  of  the 
man.      His  companion  raised  the  ques- 


tion, after  the  boy  had  left  cheerfully, 
as  to  the  advisability  of  giving  alms 
thus  indiscriminately.  The  conversa- 
tion ran  freely,  and  soon  some  clear 
ideas  crystallized  out.  The  support  of 
the  needy  was  an  obvious  duty.  It 
could  be  state  managed  or  attended  to 
by  private  individuals.  In  England  a 
combination  of  these  methods  was  re-, 
sorted  to,  and  therefore  almsgiving  was 
a  duty.  We  then  got  on  to  questions 
of  poverty  in  Palestine.  An  interesting 
fact  was  produced.  A  street  beggar, 
such  as  is  to  be  found  in  large  num- 
bers in  England  and  America,  would  be 
impossible  amongst  the  Arabs  in  Pales- 
tine. Yes,  there  certainly  were  beg- 
gars there,  but  only  in  certain  definite 
places  and  at  certain  times. 

This  little  incident — and  the  outlines 
are  now  vague1— gave  the  writer  a 
glimpse  of  the  man  which  was  to  agree 
with  and  fall  into  place  in  a  wider  and 
a  more  mature  understanding  of  the 
man. 

The  warm  Jewish  heart,  the  feeling 
of  rachmonuth,  the  illuminating  discus- 
sion of  the  problem  of  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  poverty,  the  informative  fact 
on  this  problem  in  Palestine,  gave  one 
indications  of  the  Yid,  the  social  stu- 
dent and  Zionist. 

We  walked  for  nearly  an  hour  and 
the  conversation  was  all  the  time  in- 
formative, suggestive  and  inspiring. 

Here  was  a  man  with  whom  to  have 
a  light  and  pleasant  conversation  was 
yet  to  enjoy  a  mental  shower  bath. 
This,  of  course,  holds  true  to  an  extent 
with  most  conversations  with  great 
men  (the  Haham  Dr.  Gaster  in  particu- 
lar has  this  effect).  But  with  Asher 
Ginzberg  one  felt  it  all  the  more  be- 
cause of  the  focus  of  his  ideas  and  his 
interests.  Moreover,  there  was  none  of 
that  heaviness  and  ponderousness  pro- 
duced by  many  scholars. 

In  the  company  of  Mr.  Ginzberg, 
after  half  an  hour's  conversation,  one 
found  oneself  realizing  more  clearly 
than  ever  that  the  Jews  were  a  distinct 
nation.      He  switched   one  from  Odessa 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


183 


to  Jaffa,  from  New  York  to  Haiffa,  from 
England  and  Germany  to  Roumania  and 
Galicia.  The  Jewries  in  these  parts 
were,  of  course,  all  one.  They  had  sim- 
ilar problems  which  had  become  differ- 
entiated because  of  environment.  But 
essentially  they  were  the  same. 

"What  a  great  day  it  would  be  when 
the  Jaffa  Gymnasium  sent  out  from  its 
rooms  a  set  of  students  whose  whole 
education — and  a  fine  high  standard  it 
was  to  be,  too — into  the  Jewries  of 
Europe  and  America."  "Great  day  for 
whom?"  "For  the  Jews  of  the  world, 
of  course,"  he  answered."  "You  know, 
of  course,"  he  added,  "that  it  has  Jew- 
ish students  not  only  from  Russia  and 
Germany,  but  from  South  Africa,  India 
and  even  China." 

"How  impatient  and  anxious  we  all 
were  to  see  the  Hebrew  Wall  Map  pub- 
lished!" "Who  constitutes  the  we?" 
somebody  asked. 

"Why,  all  the  Jews  with  intellectual 
interests  all  over  the  world." 

"Anti-semitism  in  Cambridge?"  'So, 
that  falls  into  place  with  anti-semitism 
in   St.    Petersburg,   Leipzig  and   Paris." 

To  ask  Mr.  Ginzberg  whether  the 
Jews  constitute  a  nation,  after  spending 
an  evening  with  him,  would  be  as  im- 
possible as  asking  Mr.  Balfour  whether 
the  English  are  a  nation,  or  Bernard 
Shaw  whether  the  Irish  Nation  is  dead. 

During  the  walk  I  could  note  with 
some  care  Mr.  Ginzberg's  physical  and 
physiognomical  features.  The  most  im- 
portant feature  by  far  was  the  mas- 
sively shaped  head.  One  almost  forgot 
the  other  parts  of  the  man  in  admiring 
the  head.  (One  could  not  help  recall- 
ing that  Norman  Angel  produced  a  sim- 
ilar effect.)  A  fine,  big,  expansive  fore- 
head, clear,  penetrating,  kindly,  humor- 
ous eyes,  a  characteristic  Aguiline  nose, 
a  tapering  face,  which  ends  in  a  well 
combed,  short  beard,  are  the  things  first 
noted.  His  ruddy  complexion,  his 
shoulders  well  set  back  and  a  straight 
walk  make  one  feel  that  in  some  un- 
accountable way  he  has  escaped  the 
physical  characteristics  of  the  Jewish 
scholar.  This  is  all  the  more  remark- 
able when  we  recall  the  fact  of  which 
Dr.  Klausner  reminds  us,  that  before 
the  age  of  eighteen  Asher  Ginzberg 
was   consulted   by   the   Rabbis     in    the 


towns  surrounding  Gopisbetz,  where  he 
lived,  on  Talmudic  questions. 

Though  born  in  1856,  he  did  not  look 
older  than  fifty,  and,  in  fact,  were  it 
not  common  knowledge  that  his  health 
had  been  causing  anxiety  to  his  friends 
for  some  time  one  would  guess  that  he 
was  well  within  the  ill-defined  stage  of 
middle  age  and  that  he  was  still  very 
active. 

We  returned  to  his  house  and  were 
welcomed  by  Mrs.  Ginzberg.  She  at 
once  impresses  you  as  coming  from  a 
home  of  Rabbis.  Her  warm  welcome, 
her  kindly  inquiries,  her  quiet  good 
humor,  her  dress  and  manner,  all  com- 
bined to  make  one  feel  what  fine  women 
our  mothers  and  grandmothers  in  Rus- 
sia must  have  been.  Hers  is  a  gentle 
spirit,  full  of  warmth  and  tenderness, 
happy  in  a  reverent  admiration  for  her 
husband's  wisdom. 

Russian  tea  was  ordered  and  served, 
and  we  settled  down  to  a  quiet 
"Shmness." 

It  was  an  ordinary  Friday  night 
when  I  called,  and  so  in  a  place  like 
London,  where  distance  leads  to  isola- 
tion, where  Friday  is  not  a  regular 
"calling"  day,  and  where  a  Russian  Jew 
is  doubly  in  Golus,  I  expected  that  the 
Rabbi  would  be  alone.  I  was  to  be 
greatly  mistaken. 

Firstly  I  found  with  him  the  Russian 
Zionist  already  referred  to.  Shortly 
after  our  return  a  Zionist  from  Berlin 
entered.  He  was  on  a  vist  to  England 
in  order  to  study  the  Reformatory 
School  system.  He  was  accompanied 
by  two  well  known  lady  Zionists,  one  of 
whom  has  recently  translated  into  Eng- 
lish an  important  book  dealing  with 
the  Jewish  problem. 

The  conversation  moved  easily  from 
subject  to  subject.  But  never  did  it 
slip.  There  was  no  slurring  over;  there 
were  no  vague  boundaries.  Even 
though  subjects  were  treated  lightly, 
that  was  no  reason  why  any  margin  of 
doubt  should  be  left  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  speaker.  Our  host  knew  that 
we  came  to  hear  him  talk,  and  talk  he 
did,  but  he  also  got  us  to  talk.  He 
listened  carefully  to  what  we  said;  he 
asked  questions;  he  was  interested;  he 
was  concerned  about  our  private  studies 
and  work  as  well  as  about  our  Zionistic 
activity. 


184 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


The  Berlin  doctor  had  just  received 
a  thesis  from  a  friend  dealing  with 
some  sociological  problem.  Achad 
Ha'am  was  interested  in  the  subject, 
made  some  inquiries  and  promised  to 
read  it. 

He  agreed  with  one  of  the  ladies 
that  a  certain  Zionistic  work  ought  to 
be  translated  into  English.  "It  would 
be  excellent  for  propaganda  purposes." 
"What  work  was  a  certain  Zionist  stu- 
dent of  brilliant  promise  doing  in 
Cambridge?  Would  he  present  a 
thesis?" 

He  had  been  written  to  by  a  Russian 
Zionist  whose  son  was  not  allowed  to 
enter  a  Russian  university  about  his 
joining  some  college  in  Oxford.  "What 
had  best  be  done?" 

One  felt  that  he  was  mightily  inter- 
ested in  the  doings  of  all  Zionist  stu- 
dents and  anxious  to  hear  about  their 
social  life  and  activities.  More  inter- 
esting, however,  was  his  knowledge  of 
the  men  in  the  Zionist  Movement,  lot 
merely  of  the  big  men,  for  that  is  to 
be  expected,  but  of  the  little  men.  With 
the  Berlin  Zionist  for  example  he  spoke 
not  only  about  the  younger  people  in 
the  offices  of  "Die  Welt"  and  of  the 
Actions  Comite,  but  of  the  general  body 
of  young  Zionists. 

What  was  so  and  so  doing  who  prom- 
ised to  become  a  good  speaker?  What 
was  this  young  fellow  doing  who  had 
already  shown  himself  a  good  debater? 
Was  another  individual  proving  to  be 
a  good  organizing  secretary? 

Ussichkin,  when  he  visited  a  Zionist 
society  in  England,  once  asked  to  be 
shown  the  minutes  of  the  committee. 
They  were  well  kept,  and  so  the  leader 
showed  his  appreciation.  It  was  a  small 
thing,  but  it  showed  that  Ussichkin  as 
an  organizer  knew  whom  to  praise,  and 
saw  where  unappreciated  work  was 
being  done.  Its  effect  was  wonderful. 
The  secretary  felt  that  Ussichkin  had 
done  that  kind  of  work,,  too;  that  it 
was  work  well  worth  doing,  and  about 
which  he  would  be  more  keen  in  the 
future.  Achad  Ha'am,  his  teacher,  no- 
tices exactly  the  same  kind  of  thing. 
(Why  don't  English  speaking  Zionist 
leaders  take  an  interest  in  such  de- 
tails?) 

His  study  is  of  good  size.     Comforta- 


ble, well  furnished  and  yet  not  crowded, 
one  at  once  feels,  even  if  one  doesn't 
notice  the  habit  later,  that  Acham 
Ha'am  likes  to  walk  up  and  down  his 
room  whilst  talking  to  his  guests. 
Three  walls  of  the  room  (the  fourth 
wall  is  taken  up  by  the  windows)  are 
covered  with  open  book  cases.  Most 
of  the  books  seemed,  from  where  I  sat, 
to  have  been  much  used.  Here  was 
no  mere  bibliographer,  or  book  col- 
lector, or  superficial  book  critic.  No, 
it  was  the  student  who  chose  his  books 
carefully  and  then  read  them,  conned 
its  pages  and  knew  the  book. 

Here  one  espied  a  large  section  in 
which  Russian  volumes  advertised 
themselves  by  big  Greek  lettering. 
There  one  noticed  paper  covered  vol- 
umes; many  gave  one  the  impression 
of  being  Theses  for  Doctorate  Degrees. 
Near  me  were  some  French  volumes. 
There  was  also  an  English  section;  but 
larger  was  the  Hebrew  section.  If  I 
remember  rightly,  there  were  not  only 
a  set  of  Mishnayuth  and  of  the  Talmud 
Babli  and  the  Talmud  Jerusalmi,  but  a 
number  of  volumes  bound  in  the  char- 
acteristic Vilna  style,  which  is  used  for 
religous   works. 

One  would  have  given  much  to  have 
been  enabled  to  examine  this  library  at 
leisure.  Not  only  would  it  have  re- 
vealed much,  if  not  all,  of  Achad 
Ha'am's  intellectual  food,  but  it  would 
probably  have  contained  those  very 
copies  of  Hobbes  and  Locke,  Buckle  and 
Spencer,  De  Caulanges  and  Nietzsche, 
which  were  used  by  him  when  he  in- 
troduced their  names  and  works  to  a 
Russian  Jewry,  which  was  soon  to  feast 
on  them.  Moreover,  this  library  has 
an  historic  interest.  It  foreshadows 
the  attempt  to  bring  about  the  most 
perfect  harmonizing  of  Jewish  intel- 
lectual work  with  classical  and  modern 
literature  and  scientific  knowledge. 
This  "new  synthesis"  will  take  place 
in  Palestine,  but  most  of  the  intel- 
lectual material  which  will  go  towards 
the  furnishing  of  it  is  now  in  this  li- 
brary. 

Yet  of  most  immediate  interest  was 
the  fact  that  here  one  would  find  many 
of  those  scattered  articles  and  rare 
pamphlets  which  only  few  possess  and 
which  will  be  necessary  for  the   future 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


185 


historian  of  Zionism  and  of  contempor- 
ary Judaism. 

What,  for  example,  could  be  of  more 
interest  than  a  pamphlet  written  by  D. 
Weizmann,  some  ten  years  ago,  dealing 
with  the  possibilities  of  founding  a 
Jewish  university? 

Again  what  could  be  more  important 
than  the  written  word  concerning  that 
unique  society  inspired  by  Achad  Ha'am 
himself,  and  known  as  the  Bene  Moshe? 

That  Achad  Ha'am  has  them,  one 
can't  help  but  believe,  when  one  notices 
with  what  care  he  collects  and  reads 
all  writings  pertaining  to  problems  in 
which  he  is  interested. 

We  got  more  than  a  suggestion  of 
this  characteristic  when  Mr.  Ginzberg 
turned  to  one  of  the  party  who  was  an 
ex-editor  of  "The  Zionist,"  and  said  to 
him  in  a  quaint  way  which  he  adopts 
on  occasions  in  conversation,  "You  are 
'The  Zionist,'  and  I  want  to  quarrel 
with  you."  "What,  not  'The  Zionist'? 
Well,  your  spirit  is  still  there."  Dr. 
Mendes  had  an  article  in  the  last  num- 
ber, in  which  he  contended  that  the 
Zionist  Movement  did  not  have  a  suf- 
ficiently orthodox  Jewish  tendency. 
That  article  deserved  an  editorial 
reply,  and  your  spirit  is  responsible 
for  its  not  appearing  there." 

A  lady  intervened.  "Yes,  Mr.  Ginz- 
burg,  I  have  seen  an  answer.  I  have 
received  my  copy  only  this  morning, 
but  if  you  say  a  reply  has  appeared, 
I  will  look  in  my  copy."  He  went  to 
a  cupboard,  found  the  missed  article 
and,  turning  to  the  ex-editor,  said: 
"All  right,  I  will  let  your  spirit  rest  in 
peace." 

Every  article  in  the  nature  of  a  criti- 
cism, and  every  book  in  the  nature  of 
an  attack,  however  innocuous  it  might 
seem  to  the  unwary,  had  to  receive  its 
proper  answer.  Nothing  that  endan- 
gered Jewish  life  or  Zionism  could  be 
allowed  to  pass  without  challenge  and 
counter-attack.  It  is  this  fact  that  has 
gained  for  him  the  reputation  of  being 
the  foremost  Jewish  critic. 

His  whole  life,  his  whole  public  work, 
has  been  a  fight  against  the  status  quo 


of  the  Jews.  This  necessitated  a  con- 
tinuous activity  which  heightened  and 
grew  keener  at  special  times  of  distress, 
renewed  oppressions,  massacres  or 
"bilbulim."  But  more  characteristic 
has  been  his  fight  with  Jews  themselves. 
Salomon  Reinach,  a  learned  scholar, 
a  member  of  the  Academie  Franqaise, 
innocently  writes  an  article  in  a  little- 
known  paper  "L'  Univers  Israelite,"  in 
which  he  affirms  that  Eastern  Jewry 
is  suffering  from  an  "inner  slavery" — 
it  observes  the  Sabbath  and  dietary 
laws.  This  "New  Saviour,"  therefore, 
naturally  suggests  the  introduction  of 
"modern  rational  criticism."  To  Rein- 
arch  the  proposal  was  probably  mild, 
somewhat  unusual,  of  course,  but  since 
assimilation  is  advisable,  and  fortu- 
nately inevitable,  why,  it  is  nothing  to 
be  concerned  about. 

What  did  poor  Reinarch  say  when 
he  heard  of  Achad  Ha'am  and  read  in 
answer  to  him  and  his  friends:  "Slaves 
that  you  are,  emancipate  yourselves 
first!" 

At  the  time  of  this  call  Achad  Ha'am 
was  engaged  in  writing  an  article  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Claude  Montefiore's 
"Synoptic  Gospels,"  and  again  the 
sharp  incisive  tones  of  the  combatant 
are  heard. 

"But  «very  true  Jew,  be  he  'ortho- 
dox' or  'liberal,'  feels  deep  down  in 
his  being  that  there  is  something  in 
the  spirt  of  our  people — though  we 
know  not  what  it  is — that  kept  it  from 
the  high  road  taken  by  other  nations, 
and  impelled  it  to  build  up  Judaism  on 
those  foundations,  for  the  sake  of  which 
the  people  remain  to  this  day  confined 
'in  a  corner'  with  its  religion,  being 
incapable  of  renouncing  them.  Let 
them  who  still  have  this  feeling  remain 
within  the  fold;  let  them  who  have  lost 
it  go  elsewhere.  There  is  no  room 
here  for  compromise." 

It  was  late  before  the  party  broke 
up  and  wished  Mr.  Ginzberg  a  "good 
shabos."  One  went  away  with  the  feel- 
ing that  it  was  a  privilege  to  serve  in 
the  organization  with  which  Achad 
Ha'am  is  associated. 


186 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


DR.  KALLEN  ON  ZIONISM 


The  Editor  of  The  Nation  declined  to  publish  the  following  letter,  giving  as  a 
reason  his  unwillingness  to  offend  an  old  contributor.  We  submit  it  would  have  been 
better  to  offend  an  old  contributor  than  deny  their  columns  to  an  adequate  reply  to  an 
offensive  and  irresponsible  criticism  of  a  great  movement.  In  justice  to  The  Nation  it 
should  be  said  they  did  publish  a  short  reply  by  Miss  Szold  which,  interesting  in  itself, 
did  not  attempt  to  cover  the  ground. 


To  the  Editor  of  THE  NATION. 

Sirs:  When  reviews  are  anonymous, 
they  must  stand,  not  on  the  writer's 
authority,  but  on  their  own  merit; 
hence,  it  is  wise  for  the  anonymous  re- 
viewer to  follow  the  safe  rule  of  sub- 
stantiating his  judgments,  particularly 
his  disapprovals,  with  argument  and 
with  specific  references  to  the  texts  he 
judges.  The  importance  of  this  rule 
was  brought  vigorously  home  to  me  by 
the  review  of  Gottheil's  "Zionism"  in 
the  issue  of  the  Nation  for  July  23. 
This  review  makes  an  indictment  of  the 
Zionist  Movement  which  sums  itself  up 
as  follows: 

(1)  The  keynote  of  Zionism  being 
Jewish  nationalism,  "the  combination 
of  nationalism  with  religious  tenets  of 
a  universal  scope  would  appear  to  be 
an  almost  impossible  alliance." 

(2)  Zionists  represent  "a  diversity 
of  views  and  aims  which  is  almost  be- 
wildering," although  they  belong  to 
only  two  classes  of  Jews,  "the  orthodox 
believers"  and  the  "agnostic  romanti- 
cists," like  Nordau  and  Zangwill,  who 
retain  an  interest  in  the  fate  of  their 
people  in  spite  of  their  being  "agnos- 
tic." 

(3)  These  two  groups  did  not  and 
could  not  hold  together,  but  broke  "at 
the  second  Congress  in  1898"  over  the 
Uganda  offer  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment. "The  leaders  were  ready  to 
abandon  Palestine,"  but  tried  to  de- 
ceive their  followers  by  calling  Uganda 
"a  station  on  the  way."  In  the  con- 
flict which  followed  "the  orthodox  be- 
lievers who  could  not  give  up  Palestine 
without  an  abandonment  of  a  religious 
tenet"  won  the  day,  and  the  movement 
split  into  factions. 

(4)  Since  then  the  factions  have 
multiplied.  Zionism  has  let  itself  into 
"side  issues  which  show  how  hopelessly 
muddled  the  whole  situation  has  be- 
come."     Zionists   are  held   together  by 


"sentiment  alone,"  and  the  Zionist 
Movement  has  made  no  "substantial 
headway"  because  of  "the  impossibility 
of  an  alliance  between  "agnostics"  who 
seek  a  political  solution  of  the  Jewish 
question  and  orthodox  believers  for 
whom  "nationalism"  is  a  corollary  of 
religious  faith." 

The  only  statement  unqualifiedly 
true  in  this  whole  indictment  is  the 
statement  the  keynote  of  Zionism  is 
Nationalism,  for  the  aim  of  Zionism  is 
to  obtain  for  the  Jews  "a  publicly  as- 
sured and  legally  secured  home  in  Pal- 
estine." Whatever  differences  Zionists 
may  entertain  as  to  the  methods  of 
achieving  this  end,  they  have  ever  been 
unanimous  as  to  the  end,  and  as  to  the 
dependence  of  the  realization  of  the 
"side  issues"  on  the  realization  of  the 
end. 

For  the  rest  the  notion  that  national- 
ism is  incompatible  with  "religious  ten- 
ets of  a  universal  scope"  is  a  naive  as 
all  the  customary  popular  maunderings 
about  the  "universal."  One  might  as 
well  say  that  nationalism  is  incompati- 
ble with  "mathematical  tenets  of  uni- 
varsal  scope"  or  with  the  universal  law 
of  gravitation,  which  everybody,  I  sup- 
pose, believes  in.  Christianity  and  Bud- 
dhism are  quite  as  "universal"  as  Juda- 
ism, and  far  more  widespread,  but  one 
does  not  hear  that  they  are  incompatible 
with  the  existence  of  Christian  and 
Buddhist  nationalities  or  that  national- 
ity is  being  objected  to  by  Christian  or 
Buddhist  theologians  on  religious 
grounds  .  Such  objections  have  come 
from  Jewish  theologians  of  the  re- 
formed sect,  and  these  objections  have 
been  levelled  only  at  Jewish  national- 
ity. According  to  the  wisdom  of  these 
gentlemen,  "religious  tenets  of  a  uni- 
versal scope"  permit  the  Jew  to  be  a 
member  of  any  nation  but  the  Jewish 
nation.      That    is    like   saying    that   the 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


187 


law  of  gravitation  permits  things  to  fall 
anywhere  but  where  they  do  fall.  It  is 
enough  to  observe  that  such  a  doctrine, 
even  in  its  most  plausible  form,  denies 
the  fact  that  universal  religions  are  be- 
lieved in  by  particular  nationalities  to 
the  advantage  of  both;  that  hence  the 
incompatibility  is  imaginary,  not  actual. 
In  fact,  our  western  world  is  a  world 
of  nationalities.  Its  strength  has  lain 
in  the  conservation  and  harmonious  de- 
velopment of  differences  of  national 
-type.  The  great  European  tradition  is 
an  international  mosaic,  having  nation- 
alities for  its  base,  and  the  culture  and 
civilization  of  Europe,  at  least,  are  the 
culture  and  civilization  of  the  European 
nations,  developed  by  the  harmonious 
and  discordant  contacts  of  these  na- 
tions. All  conceptions  that  are  super- 
national  or  international  rest  upon  na- 
tionality as  their  foundation,  just  as 
our  common  humanity  rests,  in  the  ac- 
tual business  of  living,  upon  our  par- 
ticular and  unique  human  individuali- 
ties as  its  foundation;  just  as  man  de- 
pends upon  Ger-man,  French-man,  Eng- 
lish-man or  Jew-man.  What  is  primary 
and  important  about  us  is  not  what  we 
have  in  common  with  our  fellows,  but 
what  we  do  not  have  in  common;  what 
is  most  universal  is  least  efficacious  be- 
cause in  history  all  action  is  particular 
and  determined  to  time,  and  place,  and 
heredity. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  under  the 
one  rubric  of  Zionism  so  many  "side 
issues"  are  included  that  the  reviewer 
is  "bewildered."  Sectarian,  geographic- 
al, economic  and  other  considerations 
divide  the  Jews;  nationality  unites 
them;  it  is  their  sole  unalterable  exis- 
tent differentia,  their  invariant,  least 
common  denominator,  their  unitary 
heritage  of  blood  and  tradition  from 
which  the  differences  among  them  de- 
part. To  cease  being  Jews  they  would 
have  to  cease  to  be.  Thus  the  Zionist 
Movement,  far  from  having  been  split 
into  the  separate  Jewish  groups,  has 
brought  separate  Jewish  groups  closer 
together.  "Orthodox  believer,"  "re- 
formed," and  "agnostic";  capitalist  and 
workman;  German,  French,  Russian, 
English,  Turkish,  Spanish,  American 
Jew — they  came  together  twenty  years 
ago,  they  are  holding  together,  and  they 


are  growing  in  numbers  and  strength. 
Zionism  is  the  only  Jewish  movement  / 
that  is  truly  representative  of  all  Jew- 
ish groups,  and  it  is  representative  be- 
cause it  is  national.  Like  other  na- 
tional movements  that  are  democratic 
in  organization  and  government,  it  is 
divided  into  parties  with  respect  to  poli- 
cies and  means,  and  absolutely  unani- 
mous with  respect  to  purpose.  Your 
reviewer's  account  misses  this  fact  in 
his  highly  colored  misstatement  of  the 
Uganda  episode.  He  represents  the  di- 
vision at  the  sixth  Congress  in  1903 
(not  the  second  in  1908)  as  involving 
a  religious  issue  and  dishonesty  on  the 
part  of  the  leaders.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  Friedemann's  "Life  of 
Herzl"  know  how  definitely  the  dead 
leader  was  committed  to  Palestine  from 
the  beginning  of  organized  Zionism; 
and  there  are  many  letters  extant,  writ- 
ten long  before  the  historic  sixth  Con- 
gress, while  the  negotiations  with  the 
British  Government  were  still  going  on, 
which  demonstrate  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  that  the  leaders  sought  only 
a  "Nachtasyl"  and  "station  by  the  way" 
for  their  unhappy  brethren  in  the  Slav- 
onic countries.  That  they  were  accused 
of  giving  up  Palestine  is  true.  But 
their  accusers  were  not  "orthodox  be- 
lievers" at  all.  Their  accusers  were 
Russian  "intellectuals,"  quite  as  "ag- 
nostic" as  they,  led  by  the  engineer 
Ussischkin,  who  is  said  to  be  as  free- 
thinking  as  Nordau.  The  opposition  of 
these  "intellectuals"  may  have  been  un- 
wise, but  it  was  heroic,  for  they  were 
condemning  themselves  and  their  own 
people,  the  majority  of  the  Jews,  to  the 
continual  dangers  of  living  in  Russia. 
And  they  made  this  condemnation  "sen- 
timentally," if  you  will,  but  with  the 
sentiment  of  statesmanlike  vision. 
There  are  deep  psychological  reasons  in 
the  history  and  experiences  of  the  Jews 
why  even  the  "agnostics"  will  not  un- 
dertake the  privations  of  pioneer  life 
in  Africa  when  they  may  migrate  to 
America,  and  will  undertake  them  in 
Palestine  with  the  same  pleasanter  al- 
ternative before  them.  The  growing 
life  in  Palestine  has  shown  the  wisdom 
and  Tightness  of  the  majority's  uncom- 
promising stand. 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


The  majority  at  the  sixth  Congress 
made  clear  the  people's  unchangeable 
will  to  place  the  legally  assured  home 
of  the  Jews  in  Palestine  and  nowhere 
else.  Since  then  conditions  have 
changed,  and  methods  with  them,  but 
the  growth  of  the  Zionist  movement  in 
men,  in  means,  and  in  achievements  has 
been  firm  and  steady,  although  slow. 
In  Russia  it  has  been  hampered  by  gov- 
ernmental opposition,  elsewhere  it  has 
met  the  difficulties  customary  to  na- 
tional movements.  Withal,  it  has 
brought  together  and  held  together  for 
twenty  years  Jews  of  all  opinions,  all 
conditions,  and  from  all  regions.  It 
has  been  enriched  by  their  special  aims, 
their  "side  issues,"  and  has  assimilated 
them  to  its  greater  purpose.  No  wonder 
the  reviewer  misses  a  verbal  definition 
of  its  totality.  Such  a  definition  cannot 
be  formulated.  Zionism  is  truly  na- 
tional, and,  like  all  national  movements, 
integrates  in  itself  all  the  diverse  and 
conflicting  constituents  of  nationality. 
It  can  no  more  be  adequately  defined 
in  words  than  "Americanism,"  "Gallic- 
ism," or  "Germanism";  and  these,  like 
it,  consist  in  a  dominant  principle  in- 
tegrating "side  issues."  These,  more 
than  it,  are  at  bottom  nothing  else  than 
a  "sentiment  alone,"  and  their  adher- 
ents are  no  less  romantic  than  the  ad- 
herents of  Zionism. 

For  the  consideration  of  an  impartial 
world  Zionism  presents  two  aspects: 
(1)  It  is  a  reaction  upon  the  relation 
of  the  Jewish  masses  to  other  European 
groups;  (2)  it  is  a  program  to  actualize 
the  impulse  which  the  Jewish  people 
feel,  like  the  other  peoples  of  the  world, 
toward  the  realization  of  their  char- 
acteristic potentialities  in  an  autonom- 
ous group-life  having  its  appropriate  so- 
cial and  cultural  forms. 

As  a  reaction  the  Zionism  program  is 
negative.  It  aims,  in  response  to  the 
pressure  of  anti-Semitism,  in  observa- 
tion of  the  maladjustment  of  Jewish  in- 
dividual* and  groups,  to  relieve  the 
pressure,  to  minimize  the  maladjust- 
ments and  to  eliminate  the  cruelty  and 
injustice,  so  far  as  possible,  by  a  Jew- 
ish resettlement  in  Palestine,  which 
should  enrich  the  Ottoman  Empire,  both 
humanly  and  economically,  in  return 
for  peace  and  protection. 


As  a  program  for  Jewish  self-realiza- 
tion Zionism  is  affirmative.  In  the  con- 
cert of  nationalities  whose  reciprocally 
interacting  cultures  make  up  the  sym- 
phony of  civilization,  the  Jewish  people 
are  recorded  as  having  played  a  distinct 
part.  The  Hebraic  note  which  has  been 
an  expression  of  their  corporate  life  has 
given  to  the  history  of  Europe  an  un- 
questionable coloring,  for  the  possession 
of  which  that  history  is  claimed  to  be 
spiritually  the  richer.  Zionism  aims 
to  establish  conditions  under  which  this 
note  may  gain  in  strength  and  purity; 
conditions,  that  is,  under  which  the 
national  individuality  of  the  Jews,  like 
that  of  any  of  the  nations  of  Europe, 
may  again  be  free  to  express  itself  char- 
acteristically in  living  forms  of  social 
organization  and  intellectual  and  es- 
thetic activities.  In  twenty  years  Zion- 
ism has  succeeded  in  establishing  the 
beginnings  of  such  an  expressive  life  in 
Palestine.  The  administration  which 
directs  its  form  and  whose  institutions 
guide  its  development  is  the  creature  of 
the  Zionist  Congress,  and  the  Congress 
is  constituted  of  elected  representatives 
of  Jews  all  the  world  over,  who,  by 
paying  the  shekel  or  national  tax,  be- 
come members  of  the  Zionist  organiza- 
tion. These,  since  the  inception  of  the 
movement,  have  grown  steadily  in  num- 
ber, the  total  having  doubled,  I  think, 
between  1909-10  and  1912-13,  while  in 
the  United  States  during  the  same  pe- 
riod the  number  has  increased  from 
8,000  to  nearly  13,000.  Beside  the 
shekel,  there  are  several  funds  to  which 
voluntary  contributions  are  made.  Of 
these,  the  most  important  is  the  Na- 
tional Fund,  with  an  annual  income 
which  has  more  than  doubled  between 
1908  and  1912.  The  money  of  this 
fund  is  used  to  acquire  land  in  Pales- 
tine as  the  inalienable  property  of  the 
Jewish  people.  The  land  is  leasable 
only  to  Jews.  Much  of  it  has  been  de- 
voted to  garden-city  construction,  school 
and  other  public  buildings  and  coloniza- 
tion. Jews  possess  today  about  1.11 
of  the  total  area  of  Palestine,  the  great- 
er part  having  been  acquired  since  the 
initiation  of  the  Zionist  Movement  and 
in  allegiance  to  the  Zionist  ideal.  Un- 
der the  same  influence  the  Jewish  popu- 
lation of  Palestine  has  increased  from 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


189 


55,000  in  1897  to  over  100,00  in  1911, 
the  total  population  increasing  in  the 
same  period  only  from  650,000  to 
700,000. 

The  greater  number  of  the  Palestin- 
ian Jews  live  in  towns,  but  there  are 
41  agricultural  colonies,  and  each  year 
sees  one  or  more  added.  Travelers  re- 
mark the  salutary  effect  of  the  Jewish 
settlement  on  Palestine,  and  are  par- 
ticularly struck  by  the  Hebraic  char- 
acter which  the  life  of  the  whole  coun- 
try is  acquiring.  The  institutions  which 
have  grown  up  (wherever  feasible  under 
Ottoman  protection)  since  1897  desig- 
nate it  specifically.  There  is  the  Na- 
tional Jewish  Library,  the  property  of 
the  Jewish  National  Fund;  there  is 
Bezalel,  the  national  school  of  arts  and 
crafts;  there  are  the  schools  and  gym- 
nasia, the  gymnastic  unions,  the  work- 
ingmen's  clubs,  the  co-operative  agri- 
cultural colonies,  the  literary  and 
learned  societies,  and  the  last  Congress 
projected  a  university  in  Jerusalem,  for 
the  establishment  of  which  more  than 
half  the  necessary  cost  has  already  been 
subscribed.  The  language  of  all  these 
groups  and  institutions,  of  the  daily 
life,  of  instruction,  of  entertainment 
and  of  research,  is  Hebrew.  An  attempt 
to  substitute,  in  some  of  the  schools 
and  in  a  projected  technological  insti- 
tute, another  language,  was  met  by  a 
storm  of  resistance.  Teachers  and  pu- 
pils went  on  strike,  there  were  protest 
meetings  everywhere,  the  whole  of  Pal- 


estinian Jewry  defied  the  projectors  of 
the  change,  although  the  teachers 
risked  in  this  way  the  loss  of  their  live- 
lihood and  the  parents  the  education  of 
their  children.  Nothing  could  have 
shown  more  clearly  how  deep-lying  is 
the  force  that  animates  the  Zionists, 
how  unanimous  on  fundamentals  they 
are  and  how  real  and  specific  is  the 
promise  of  a  new  and  living  Hebraism, 
which  under  modern  conditions  and  in 
forms  appropriate  to  the  nature  of  the 
Jews  and  of  contemporary  civilization 
shall  maintain  the  continuity  of  the  tra- 
dition of  the  prophets,  enriched  by  the 
chastening  experiences  of  the  diaspora, 
and  expressive  of  the  autonomy  of  a 
characteristic  Jewish   group-life. 

There  exist  many  other  phases  and 
results  of  Zionist  activity  all  showing 
a  similar  development.  I  confine  my- 
self to  the  foregoing  indication  of  the 
most  definitive.  They  may  constitute  to 
the  reviewer's  highly  practical  soul, 
failure  "to  make  any  substantial  head- 
way." They  may,  to  his  unsentimental 
intelligence,  be  based  on  barren  "senti- 
ment alone"  whereon  "no  movement  of 
a  large  character  has  ever  thrived." 
But  let  him,  in  fairness,  show  what  else 
it  is  that  animates  and  advances  the 
pursuit  of  any  ideal;  and  let  him  show 
in  any  other  movement  of  a  similar 
nature,  however  else  animated,  a  more 
"substantial  headway,"  in  the  same  pe- 
riod of  time,  under  similar  circum- 
stances and  against  similar  obstacles. 
Horace  M.  Kallen.' 


PALESTINE  AND  THE  WAR 


The    Political    Situation. 

Jaffa,  Oct.  15,  1914. 

An  event  like  the  war  in  Europe  can- 
not take  place  without  having  disas- 
trous effects  on  every  country,  commun- 
ity and  individual  in  the  world.  We 
Jews  living  in  Palestine  feel  the  effects 
of  the  war  in  many  respects — as  Pal- 
estinians, as  Jews  and  as  individuals 
who  are  bound  by  many  ties  to  the 
countries  from  which  we  have  come. 

For  many  years  the  European  pow- 
ers have  been  watching  with  jealousy 
each  other's  endeavors  to  court  Pales- 
tine;   the  Arabs  have  been   desirous  of 


freeing  themselves  from  Turkish  rule, 
and  Turkey  herself  has  always  been 
threatening  to  rid  herself  from  foreign 
interference.  The  outbreak  of  the  war 
in  Europe  has  increased  fervor  among 
the  people  to  the  utmost. 

From  the  first  fateful  days  of  August 
the  Turkish  Army  has  been  mobilizing. 
In  all  parts  of  the  country  one  meets 
Arabs  who  have  been  pressed  to  mili- 
tary service  and  who  either  are  trained 
for  this  service  now  or  are  on  their 
way  to  the  Egyptian  or  the  Russian 
frontier,  where  the  contingent  of  Turk- 
ish  troops  is  stationed.     The  object  of 


190 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


this  mobilization  is  concealed  from  the 
public. 

The  uncertainty  as  to  the  future 
keeps  the  population  in  a  state  of  great 
nervousness.  In  the  first  days  of  the 
war  it  was  thought  that  there  would  be 
an  alliance  between  Germany  and  Tur- 
key, and  that  the  Turkish  soldiers  were 
going  to  attack  the  English  in  Egypt. 
Later  on  the  annulment  of  the  foreign 
capitulations  was  expected  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  an  immediate  militant  protest 
on  the  part  of  the  allies.  There  were 
people  in  Jaffa  and  Haiffa  who  stood  on 
the  roofs  of  their  houses  from  morn- 
ing until  night  expecting  English  cruis- 
ers to  arrive  for  the  purpose  of  bom- 
bardment of  the  ports.  The  people 
have  become  a  little  calmer,  although 
we  hardly  dare  to  hope  that  we  shall  be 
spared  altogether  a  share  of  the  gen- 
eral disaster.  Especially  in  these  last 
few  days  has  outcry  increased. 

The  new  regime  is  already  beginning 
to  manifest  itself:  While  all  foreign 
traders  hitherto  have  been  exempt  from 
taxation,  news  has  been  received  that 
the  matter  is  now  being  discussed  in 
the  Turkish  Chamber.  The  suppression 
of  jurisdiction  by  foreign  consuls  in 
Palestine  will  also  prove  to  have  its  dis- 
advantages for  the  foreign  population, 
including  those  Jews  who  are  not  nat- 
uralized. The  suppression  of  the  For- 
eign Post  has  already  led  to  very  dis- 
agreeable consequences.  The  post  of- 
fices, on  being  refused  the  privilege  to 
deliver  the  foreign  mail  until  the  55th 
day  after  the  promulgation  of  the  Im- 
perial decree,  have  induced  the  steam- 
ship companies  not  to  deliver  any  mail 
to  the  Turkish  post.  The  result  is  that 
we  are  almost  entirely  cut  off  from  the 
outside  world. 

No  change  with  regard  to  duty  on  im- 
ports has  so  far  been  noticed,  and  we 
are  waiting  for  the  Government  to  pro- 
pose custom  treaties  to  the  other  states. 
According  to  report,  the  Government 
intends  to  fix  the  duty  on  all  goods  on 
a  15  per  cent,  basis,  and  to  raise  the 
duty  on  some  goods,  such  as  clothing, 
shoes  and  alcoholic  liquor  up  to  100 
per  cent.  Also  the  tax  on  petroleum, 
sugar,  coffee,  tea,  matches,  etc.,  will  be 
considerably  increased. 

In  view  of  all  this,  we  feel  as  though 


we  were  sitting  on  a  gunpowder  barrel. 
We  are  mildly  surprised  that  it  has  not 
exploded  yet.  The  popular  explanation 
is  that  Turkey,  which  would  probably 
be  strongly  supported  by  Germany  in 
the  case  of  an  attack,  either  has  not 
been  able  to  bring  about  an  alliance 
with  the  other  Balkan  states,  or  that 
she  fears  her  own  soldiers  may  prove 
unreliable  and  unruly.  She  continues 
to  provoke  the  foreign  powers,  and  if 
the  telegram  which  the  English  Em- 
bassy last  week  sent  to  the  English  con- 
suls of  Palestine  is  not  only  meant  as 
a  "bogy,"  England  will  not  much  longer 
stand  this  defiance.  The  Arabs  them- 
selves show  signs  of  nervousness,  and 
thousands  of  them  in  Jaffa,  Haiffa  and 
Beyreut  have  removed  their  families  to 
places  of  safety.  Everywhere  one  meets 
caravans  of  Arabian  families  fleeing  to 
the  interior  of  the  country  which,  it  is 
thought,  will  be  hard  for  foreign  armies 
to  invade.  The  public  archives  hitherto 
kept  in  Jaffa  have  been  shifted  to  the 
interior.  The  priests,  missionaries  and 
inmates  of  numerous  Christian  congre- 
gations and  religious  institutions  are 
leaving  the   country  in   great  numbers. 

On  the  whole,  what  the  future  holds 
is  nothing  but  a  hypothesis,  and  some 
of  us  begin  to  feel  hopeful  that  the 
storm  may  sweep  over  Europe  without 
affecting  this  little  country  which  has 
just  awakened  from  its  centuries-long 
sleep. 

The  Economic  Situation 

The  first  days  of  August  brought  to 
this  country  a  fearful  crisis.  The  mon- 
ey which  has  been  coming  into  Palestine 
for  several  decades  suddenly  stopped 
coming.  The  Government  declared  a 
moratorium  (which  has  lately  been  ex- 
tended for  three  further  months).  The 
banks  were  closed  and  people  were  left 
without  money  and  instructions  from 
abroad.  Work  and  traffic  stopped.-  No- 
body knew  how  much  food  there  was  in 
the  country,  and  whether  it  would  be 
possible  to  get  fresh  supplies  from  Eu- 
rope. Philanthropic  institutions  closed 
their  doors.  The  Turkish  Government 
compelled  the  best  workers  in  the  col- 
onies and  towns  either  to  serve  in  the 
army,  or  else  to  pay  large  ransoms.  It 
also  demanded  heavy  war  contributions 
from    all    communities    and    began    to 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


191 


requisition  horses,  mules,  camels,  car- 
riages and  corn.  The  panic  was  terri- 
ble. The  situation  would  have  become 
helpless  if  the  new  Yishub  had  not 
proved  sufficiently  strong  to  save  the 
country  in  the  moment  of  its  great  dan- 
ger. That  a  catastrophe  too  gruesome 
to  be  imagined  was  avoided  can  be  at- 
tributed to  the  energy,  inner  harmony 
and  will-power  of  the  new  Yishub. 

A  few  days  after  the  moratorium  had 
been  declared  the  Anglo  Palestine  Com- 
pany began  to  give  out  checks,  which 
almost  have  taken  the  place  of  cash  and 
which  are  circulating  not  only  among 
the  Jews,  but  also  among  Arabs  and 
Gentiles.  The  same  bank  and  the 
"Vaads"  (boards)  of  colonies  and  towns 
bought  up  all  the  corn  they  could  get, 
and  it  was  shown  that  the  Jewish  col- 
onies in  the  country  had  produced 
enough  to  supply  the  population  with 
bread  for  several  months.  Trades- 
people were  threatened  with  being  boy- 
cotted in  case  they  would  raise  unduly 
the  prices  of  foodstuffs.  All  over  the 
country  local  committees  were  organ- 
ized, with  the  object  of  getting  a  clear 
conception  of  the  real  state  of  affairs 
and  of  devising  plans  to  prevent  the 
dreaded  famine.  First  steps  were  taken 
to  give  food  to  the  hungry.  Employers 
and  laborers,  the  orthodox  and  the  ra- 
tionalists forgot  their  feuds  and  set  to 
work  in  harmony,  and  the  well-to-do 
submitted  willingly  to  a  heavy  self-im- 
posed tax. 

And  yet,  with  all  their  energy  they 
would  not  have  been  able  to  meet  the 
situation  if  Jews  abroad  had  not  come 
to  their  assistance.  When  Ambassador 
Morgenthau  was  informed  of  the  situ- 
ation by  several  Zionist  leaders,  he  ap- 
pealed to  his  American  friends  to  help 
Palestine,  and  generously  they  an- 
swered the  appeal.  It  must  be  gratify- 
ing for  Americans  to  know  that  the  re- 
lief which  they  have  sent  has  in  more 
than  one  respect  helped  to  save  the 
Jews  of  Palestine  from  great  danger. 
Not  only  has  the  money  served  to  give 
food  to  thousands  of  hungry  people;  the 
fact  that  it  was  brought  here  by  Mr. 
Morgenthau's  son-in-law,  Mr.  Werth- 
eim,  on  board  an  American  cruiser,  has 
also  proved  to  the  non-Jewish  popula- 
tion   that    the    Jewish    community,    al- 


though small  in  numbers,  is  strongly  as- 
sisted by  the  huge  masses  of  Jews  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  The  spectacle 
of  Mr.  Wertheim  escorted  by  the  leader 
of  the  Zionist  Palestine  Bureau  and  fol- 
lowed by  sailors  carrying  the  sacks  of 
money  to  the  safe-rooms  of  the  Anglo 
Palestine  Company,  created  a  sensation 
among  the  Arabs  and  inspired  the  Jews 
with  fresh  hope  and  confidence. 

This  donation,  not  given  on  behalf  of 
some  small  section  of  the  Jewish  pop- 
ulation, but  of  all  the  Jews  of  Palestine, 
has  also  been  a  first  step  toward  the 
establishment  of  unity  and  peaceful  co- 
operation within  the  old  and  the  new 
Yishub. 

The  American  Relief  Fund  is  now  be- 
ing distributed  in  the  best  possible  way. 
The  General  Committee,  which  consists 
of  Dr.  Ruppin,  Mr.  Aaron  Aaronsohn 
and  Mr.  Ephraim  Cohen,  and  is  presid- 
ed over  by  the  American  Consul  in  Jeru- 
salem, has  appointed  sub-committees  in 
all  places,  for  which  people,  from  the 
most  different  spheres  of  life  have  been 
chosen.  Soup  kitchens  and  employment 
offices  have  been  installed  everywhere, 
and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  see  busy  house- 
wives and  pupils  of  the  Hebrew  Gymna- 
sium cooking  meals  for  the  poor.  Every- 
body tries  to  think  of  things  in  his 
household  which  should  be  repaired  or 
constructed  in  order  to  give  poor  people 
work.  Cheap  stores  were  opened,  where 
bread,  vegetables  and  other  foodstuffs 
are  sold  at  minimum  prices.  Free  loan 
associations  have  been  established  by 
the  "Vaads."  Hospitals,  infirmaries  and 
other  institutions  which  were  afraid  of 
being  forced  to  close  their  doors  were 
enabled  to  keep  them  open. 

The  principle  of  the  distribution  of 
the  money  has  been  not  simply  to  give 
people  food,  but  rather  to  give  them 
employment  and  pay  them  for  it.  In 
this  way  it  has  been  made  possible  in 
many  instances  not  to  dismiss  the  la- 
borers and  artisans  but  to  employ  sev- 
eral hundreds  of  them  in  public  work, 
such  as  the  building  of  roads  from  one 
colony  to  the  other,  etc. 

The  schools  are  naturally  in  a  bad 
position.  Several  institutions  will  not 
open  next  term  or  will  be  able  to  re- 
ceive but  a  limited  number  of  pupils; 
however,    all    Zionist   schools   in   towns 


i92 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


and  colonies  will  reopen;  this  has  partly 
become  possible  through  the  teachers' 
willingness  to  content  themselves  with 
greatly  reduced  salaries. 

Thus,  instead  of  being  confronted  by 
a  sudden  catastrophe,  the  Jews  of  Pal- 
estine have  been  enabled  not  only  to 
continue  their  existence,  but  also  to  go 
on  with  at  least  part  of  their  work  of 
colonization.  Their  greatest  sorrow  is 
now  that  they  may  not  be  able  to  sell 
this  year's  orange  crops  in  England,  and 
their  only  hope  is  that  it.  may  be  pos- 
sible to  create  a  market  in  America.  If 
they  are  disappointed  and  if  the  war 
continues,  we  shall,  in  a  few  months 
again,  have  to  face  the  question  of  how 
to  pay  for  our  bread.  Many  people,  in- 
deed, seem  to  be  hopeful  that  our 
friends  abroad  will  help  us  again.  It 
has  been  thought  necessary  that  in  case 
American  Jews  are  willing  to  do  still 
more  for  us,  we  should  ask  them  that 
their  help  be  given  in  the  form  of  cer- 
tain articles,  such  as  sugar,  rice,  coal, 
flour,  petroleum,  etc.,  which  will  soon 
be  all  gone. 

An  Outlook  on  the  Future. 

Not  speaking  of  our  own  fate,  which 
will  more  or  less  depend  on  the  issue 
of  the  war  and  its  duration,  also  on  the 
help  from  our  brethren  abroad,  but 
speaking  of  Palestine  as  the  land  of  the 
Jewish  people,  we  may  say  that  this  is 
the  moment  that  the  eyes  of  Jews 
throughout  the  world  should  be  turned 
toward  Palestine.  What  the  future 
may  bring  we  know  not  yet,  but  it  is 
likely  to  bring  us  a  huge  wave  of  immi- 
grants from  those  countries  which  are 


now  making  war  upon  each  other- — im- 
migrants who  may  have  experienced 
that  the  Jewish  people  will  forever  be  a 
plaything  in  the  hands  of  Pate,  unless 
it  finds  a  country  of  its  own.  This  pos- 
sible result  of  the  war  and  the  actual 
economic  situation  combine  to  make 
Palestine  the  country  of  great  possibili- 
ties for  all  of  us.  We  cherish  the  hope 
that  the  great  opportunity  will  not  be 
allowed  to  pass  by  without  being  seized. 

Those  who  realize  what  Palestine  can 
become  again  for  the  Jewish  people 
should  remember  that  there  are  still 
vast  portions  of  the  land  which  can  be 
bought  by  Jews,  and  the  conditions  for 
buying  are  more  favorable  now  than 
ever  before,  because  everybody  needs 
money.  The  time  is  also  ripe  now  for 
new  industries.  The  higher  duty  makes 
it  possible  for  Jewish  business  men  to 
develop  a  number  of  flourishing  home 
industries  in  Palestine.  The  European 
countries  at  war  are  almost  destroying 
each  other  and  will  not  be  able  to  sup- 
ply manufactured  goods  for  export,  even 
after  the  war  will  be  over.  There  is  no 
reason  why  American  concerns  should 
not  try  to  use  these  conditions  and  de- 
velop the  market  for  their  own  benefit. 
The  first  step  toward  this  end  will  per- 
haps be  to  get  a  direct  steamship  line 
between  the  United  States  and  this 
country. 

The  political  situation  in  the  East 
will  soon  become  clear.  Let  us  hope 
that  this  will  be  the  moment  that  the 
Jews  abroad  will  grasp  and  make  use 
of  the  immense  possibilities  of  Pales- 
tine! HELENE  HANNA  COHN. 


Twelve  Thousand 

Mr.  Nathan  Straus,  at  the  Academy 
of  Music,  New  York,  stirred  the  3,000 
Young  Judaeans  there  gathered  when 
he  appealed  to  them  to  remain  loyal 
to  their  people.  Next  year,  he  said,  he 
hoped  to  send  them  Hanukah  greet- 
ings from  Palestine.  Rev.  H.  Maslian- 
sky  received  a  loud  response  from  the 
children  when  he  asked  if  they  under- 
stood his  Yiddish  address. 

Mr.  Samuel  Strauss  spoke  at  the  Star 
Theater  in  Harlem,  Miss  Henrietta 
Szold  at  the  Burland  Theater  in  the 
Bronx,    and   Judge   Jacob    S.    Strahl   at 


Celebrate  Hanukah 

the  Folly  Theater  in  Brooklyn,  and 
Rabbi  Wolf  Gold  at  the  Comedy  The- 
ater. Illustrated  lectures  were  given 
at  the  various  gatherings  by  Rabbi  Her- 
bert Goldstein,  Rev.  Dr.  Elias  L.  Solo- 
mon and  Rabbi  Max  Raisin.  The  pro- 
grams also  included  musical  numbers 
and  recitations  by  members  of  Young 
Judaea  Circles  and  moving  pictures 
on  "Jewish  Life  in  the  Holy  Land." 

By  a  rising  vote  the  Young  Judaeans, 
12,000  strong,  offered  their  thanks  to 
Mr.  William  Fox,  who  offered  them  the 
use  of  his  largest  theaters. 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


193 


WITHIN  THE  RANKS 


Removal  Notice 

Please  take  note  that  the  offices  of  the 
Federation  of  American  Zionists,  the 
Provisional  Executive  Committee  for 
General  Zionist  Affairs,  the  Order  Sons 
of  Zion,  the  Maccabaean  Magazine,  the 
Yiddishe  Folk  and  Young  Judaea  are 
now  all  located  at  44  East  23rd  St.,  New 
York  City;  office  hours  daily  9  A.  M.  to 
6  P.  M.  (Sundays  9  A.  M.  to  1  P.  M.), 
except  Saturdays  and  holidays. 

Provisional  Committee 

Only  the  administrative  offices  of  the 
Provisional  Zionist  Committee  will  be 
located  at  44  East  23rd  St.  The  offices 
of  the  Treasurer  and  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  will  remain  at  33  West  42nd 
St.,  room  1007,  care  of  Mr.  Nathan 
Straus;  office  hours  by  appointment 
only. 

Remittances  by  mail  should  be  sent 
to  33  West  42nd  St.,  remittances  in  per- 
son should  be  brought  to  the  Adminis- 
trative Offices. 

The  Provisional  Executive  Committee 
for  General  Zionist  Affairs  of  which 
Mr.  Louis  D.  Brandeis  is  chairman,  has 
recently  forwarded,  through  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  American  Jewish  Relief 
Committee,  another  $35,000,  in  addi- 
tion to  approximately  $66,000  previous- 
ly sent  to  Palestine  by  it. 

The  Provisional  Executive  Commit- 
tee, is  again  in  a  position  to  forward 
an  additional  $25,000  to  Palestine. 
Those  desiring  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  services  of  this  Committee,  to  send 
money  to  Palestine,  whether  for  phil- 
anthropic, educational,  Zionist  or  gen- 
eral relief  purposes,  or  to  individuals 
should  send  their  remittances  at  once 
to  Mr.  E.  W.  Lewin-Epstein,  Treasurer, 
c/o  Nathan  Straus,  33  West  42nd 
Street,  New  York.  There  is  no  charge 
for  this  service. 


Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the 
regular  methods  of  money  transmission 
have  been  suspended.  Realizing  the 
necessity  of  transmitting  funds  for  the 
alleviation  of  the  suffering  in  the  Holy 
Land,  this  Committee  has  undertaken 
to  act  for  those  who  desire  to  forward 
money  to   Palestine,   whether  for   indi- 


viduals, institutions,  or  General  Relief. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  several  friends, 
this  Committee  has  been  able  to  make 
several  remittances. 

This  Committee  will  receive  money 
for  transfer  to  Palestine  and  will  for- 
ward the  amount,  according  to  the  in- 
structions of  the  sender,  at  the  first  op- 
portunity that  may  present  itself,  using 
the  greatest  care  in  connection  with  the 
remittance,  but  assuming  no  liability 
therefor.  The  Committee  makes  no 
charge  of  any  kind  for  the  service  ren- 
dered by  it,  forwarding  the  entire 
amount  entrusted  to  it,  no  matter  how 
large  or  small  it  may  be. 

In  former  remittances  we  have  cabled 
a  large  amount  and  we  have  then 
mailed  the  instructions  for  distribution, 
sending  a  number  of  lists  over  several 
different  routes.  It  must  be  assumed 
that  from  four  to  six  weeks  must  elapse 
before  the  money  will  be  paid  to  the  re- 
cipient. It  is  impossible  at  this  time 
to  send  any  advices  by  cable. 

The  sender  receives  from  this  Com- 
mittee a  receipt  for  the  money  deposited 
and  an  advice  of  identification  to  be 
mailed  to  Palestine.  There  are  organ- 
ized committees  in  each  community  to 
whom  the  recipient  will  apply  for  pay- 
ment. 

Should  you  desire  to  have  us  serve 
you  in  this  matter,  mail  your  check  to 
E.  W.  Lewin-Epstein,  Treasurer,  to- 
gether with  the  full  name,  complete  ad- 
dress and  relationship  of  the  recipient. 

We  have  received  an  official  com- 
munication from  our  representative  in 
Palestine,  informing  us  that  a  strict 
censorship  has  been  inaugurated  in  Tur- 
key, and  that  only  certain  languages 
may  be  used  for  correspondence.  These 
languages  are  Turkish,  Arabic,  French 
or  German. 

It  is  our  suggestion  further  that  im- 
portant letters  for  Palestine  ought  to 
be  sent  in  duplicate,  marking  on  the 
envelope  of  one,  via  Italy,  and  on  the 
other,  via  Berlin  and  Constantinople. 
These  are  the  safest  methods  to  use,  in 
order  to  be  assured  of  delivery  in  Pal- 
estine. 


194 


THE     MACCAByEAN 


The  New  National  Fund  Stamps 


THE  JEWISH  NATIONAL  FUND 

As  previously  reported,  the  Board  of 
the  Jewish  National  Fund  has  decided 
to  remove  its  offices  to  a  neutral  coun- 
try, to  The  Hague,  Holland. 

In  consequence  of  this  decision,  Jus- 
tizrat  Dr.  Bodenheimer  resigned  his  of- 
fice as  chairman  of  the  Board  of  the 
Jewish  National  Fund  and  Herr  Jako- 
bus  has  provisionally  accepted  the  of- 
fice. All  moneys  for  the  National  Fund 
should  be  sent  to  the  American  of- 
fice, 44   East  23  rd  Street. 


A  Memorial  to  David  Wolffsohn. 

The  death  of  David  Wolffsohn,  who 
devoted  all  his  thought  and  energy  to 
the  welfare  and  regeneration  of  the 
Jewish  people,  has  made  the  deepest 
impression  upon  all  Zionists.  It  was 
he  who,  after  the  passing  of  Herzl, 
enabled  the  International  Zionist  Or- 
ganization to  tide  over  this  most  serious 
crisis  and  to  develop  constantly  in 
vigor  and  capacity,  and  hence  the  de- 
sire has  manifested  itself  on  all  sides 
that  we  should  express  our  gratitude 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  this  devoted  son 
of  Israel. 

When  the  question  of  the  establish- 
ment of  houses  for  workmen's  families 
in  the  Palestinian  colonies  became 
acute,  Wolffsohn  resolved  to  affiliate  to 
the  Jewish  National  Fund  the  David 
and  Fanny  Wolffsohn  Fund  that  had 
been  founded  on  the  occasion  of  his  sil- 
ver wedding  by  the  German  Zionists, 
in  order  that  it  might  permanently  and 


in  ever-growing  measure  prove  bene- 
ficial to  the  welfare  of  the  workmen. 

Out  of  regard  for  the  position  of  the 
departed  as  vice-president  of  the  board 
of  directors  cf  the  National  Fund,  the 
head  office  refrained  during  his  lifetime 
from  undertaking  any  special  propa- 
ganda on  behalf  of  this  fund.  Hence, 
the  donations  up  to  the  day  of  his  death 
amounted  only  to  the  comparatively 
small  sum  of  $7,915,  but  even  with  this 
sum  valuable  results  had  already  been 
achieved  in  Palestine  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Herr  Wolffsohn. 

David  Wolffsohn  placed  great  hopes 
upon  the  future  development  and  utility 
of  this  fund,  and  contributed  to  the 
realization  of  these  hopes  in  his  last 
will. 

The  head  office  of  the  Jewish  Na- 
tional Fund  now  considers  that  the 
time  has  come  to  address  an  appeal  to 
all  Zionists  to  help  to  enlarge  the  David 
and  Fanny  Wolffsohn  Fund,  so  that  it 
can  do  justice  to  its  object  which  stands 
in  the  forefront  of  our  colonizing  work. 
This  will  form  a  worthy  memorial  to 
the  great  departed. 

A  further  mark  of  honor  to  our  de- 
ceased leader  will  be  shown  in  the  is- 
sue of  a  Wolffsohn  stamp,  which  gives 
a  faithful  presentment  of  his  striking 
features  and  which  will  shortly  adorn 
the  letters  of  every  Zionist.  The  stamps 
will  be  of  the  same  size  as  the  Herzl 
stamps,  printed  in  five  colors,  and  they 
can  be  obtained  in  booklets  of  forty  at 
the  price  of  $1. 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


195 


EIGHTEENTH  ANNUAL  CONVENTION  OF  KNIGHTS 
OF  ZION  IN  ST.  LOUIS 


This  year's  convention  of  the  Knights 
of  Zion,  after  an  interval  of  ten  years, 
will  again  be  held  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  Southwest.  The  last  and  the 
only  Zionist  convention  ever  held  in 
St.  Louis,  the  Eighth  Convention  of  K. 
of  Z.,  was  a  success  beyond  the  keen- 
est expectation  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Order  Knights  of  Zion 
and  as  such  lingers  until  this  day  in 
the  memory  of  all  participants. 

From  all  indications  the  coming  con- 
vention is  going  to  eclipse  its  prede- 
cessor. A  number  of  features  will  be 
added  to  the  usual  program  as  far 
as  entertainment  of  delegates,  parti- 
cularly of  lady  visitors,  is  concerned; 
such  as  an  automobile  party  for  ladies 
which  will  take  the  visitors  through 
the  whole  city  and  show  them  the 
marvelous  growth  of  our  municipality 
since  the  World's  Pair,  an  afternoon 
tea-party  in  one  of  the  fashionable  rest- 
aurants, visits  to  the  City  Art  Museum, 
etc.  For  all  delegates  and  out  of  town 
guests  there  is  a  treat  in  sore  in  form 
of  a  Grand  Zionist  Reunion  and  Con- 
cert, at  which  Louis  D.  Brandeis,  chair- 
man of  the  Provisional  Executive  Com- 
mittee for  General  Zionist  affairs;  Dr. 
Schmarya  Levin  and  Judge  Hugo  Pam, 
of  Chicago,  will  address  the  St.  Louis 
Zionists  and  the  Jewish  community  at 
large  on  the  most  burning  question  of 
the  day,  the  Jewish  situation  in  Europe 
and  Palestine,  and  the  methods  and 
ways  of  its  alleviation. 

The  convention  will  be  introduced  by 
a  reception  and  ball  in  honor  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  K.  of  Z. 
and  the  delegates  to  the  Eighteenth 
Convention  for  which  the  Ball  Com- 
mittee (Mrs.  Herman  Adler,  chairman), 
makes  elaborate  preparations.  The  ball 
will  take  place  on  December  31,  1914, 
on  the  eve  of  the  opening  meeting  of 
the  convention,  which  will  be  held  on 
January  1,  1915,  in  the  Auditorium  of 
the  Jewish  Educational  Alliance.  The 
latter,  through  the  kind  intervention  of 
the  superintendent  of  the  institution, 
Mr.  Oscar  Leonard,  has  been  placed  at 


the  disposal  of  the  Convention  Commit- 
tee (Dr.  M.  Golland,  chairman),  by  the 
Board  of  Directors.  Friday  night  in  a 
number  of  synagogues  and  Reform 
Temples  addresses  will  be  made  by 
rabbi-delegates  and  prominent  Zionist 
laymen. 

Saturday  night  will  be  again  devoted 
to  business  procedure,  so  also  the  meet- 
ing on  Sunday  morning.  It  is  most 
likely  that  in  consideration  of  the  ex- 
traordinary situation  of  Jewry  and  im- 
portant communications  to  be  made  as 
the  Convention  of  Knights  of  Zion  will 
be  the  first  great  gathering  of  Zionists 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  and  the 
catastrophe  that  befell  the  Jews  of  the 
whole  world,  the  meetings  of  the  con- 
vention will  be  held  all  day  Monday, 
January  4.  On  the  evening  of  that  day 
a  banquet  will  be  tendered  to  the  dele- 
gates by  St.  Louis  Zionists,  at  which 
an  appeal  for  funds  will  be  made  in 
addition  to  one  which  Louis  D.  Bran- 
deis is  going  to  launch  at  the  Grand 
Reunion  at  the  Odeon,  Sunday  evening, 
January  3.  Like  ten  years  ago,  the 
Press  and  Publicity  Committee  (Dr. 
Alex  S.  Wolf,  chairman)  will  present 
all  delegates  and  all  guests  at  the  Grand 
Reunion  with  an  artistic  literary  al- 
manac, for  which  contributions  have 
been  promised  by  all  leading  Zionists 
of  this  country.  Articles  and  essays, 
already  received,  are  real  gems  of 
poetical  inspiration  and  philosophical 
depth. 

The  local  English-Jewish  press  ("The 
Jewish  Voice,"  "The  Modern  View," 
and  "The  American  Jew")  and  the 
local  Yiddish  weekly,  the  "Yiddishe 
Press"  will  appear  on  January  1,  1915, 
largely  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  con- 
vention. 

Through  all  these  factors  we  hope  to 
overcome  the  habitual  indifference  of 
the  Jewish  masses  and  prepare  the  St. 
Louis  Jewish  community  for  a  more 
active  interest  in  Zionist  matters  as  it 
has  shown  hitherto,  for  the  sake  of  our 
cause,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
house  of  Israel. 


196 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


ACTIVE  CAMPAIGN  FOR  THE  EMERGENCY 
FUND  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


The  Jews  of  New  England  are  awak- 
ening to  their  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties, and  in  some  communities  they 
heard  for  the  first  time  the  message  of 
the  Jewish  hope  and  the  Jewish  aspira- 
tion, and  they  do  respond  to  the  call 
for  Israel. 

During  the  ten-day  tour  of  Dr.  Levin, 
assisted  by  a  number  of  able  English 
speakers  that  brought  good  results,  Dr. 
Levin  and  Mr.  Brandeis  feel  very  much 
pleased  with  the  result  so  far  obtained 
in  New  England  states. 

The  first  meeting  was  at  Nashua, 
N.  H.,  and  took  place  at  the  City  Hall, 
over  which  Mr.  Leo  J.  Lyons  presided. 
That  was  the  first  time  a  Zionist  meet- 
ing was  held  in  that  city.  Every  one 
of  the  inhabitants  turned  out  to  greet 
the  Zionist  guest.  Dr.  Levin  spoke  on 
Zionism  in  general,  and  about  the  new 
life  of  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine. 
The  other  speakers  were  Rabbi  H.  H. 
Rubenowitz  and  Julius  Meyer  of  Boston. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was  sub 
scribed  for  the  Zionist  fund. 

The  next  meeting,  on  Wednesday, 
November  11th,  took  place  at  McKinley 
Hall,  Fall  River,  Mass.  At  the  station 
a  large  delegation  was  present  to  re- 
ceive the  Zionists.  The  hall  was  filled 
to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  was  presided 
over  by  David  Silverstein  of  Fall  River. 
Dr.  Levin  made  a  very  strong  impres- 
sion upon  the  audience.  The  other 
speakers  were  David  Rodowsky  of  Fall 
River  and  Julius  Meyer  of  Boston. 
Three  hundred  dollars  were  subscribed 
for  the  fund.  After  the  collection  was 
over,  Julius  Meyer  made  an  appeal  that 
they  should  organize  a  men's  and 
women's  society  in  their  city,  and  asked 
them  to  enroll  their  names  for  a  later 
date,  and  a  number  of  men  and  women 
gave  their  names  as  members.  Mr. 
A.  A.  Brance  was  appointed  temporary 
secretary  for  both  organizations,  and  a 
permanent  organization  will  be  formed 
in  Fall  River  during  the  next  week. 

On  Thursday  evening,  November 
12th,  a  meeting  took  place  at  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  and  was  attended  by  a  very  large 


number  of  people.  This  was  also  prob- 
ably the  largest  gathering  of  Jews  ever 
held  in  that  city.  The  other  speakers 
outside  of  Dr.  Levin  were  the  honorable 
Edward  J.  Bromberg  of  Boston  and 
S.  F.  Frumkin  of  Pittsfield.  Two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  dollars  were  subscribed 
for  the  fund.  After  the  meeting  a 
number  of  leading  men  of  their  com- 
munity openly  stated  that  they  under- 
stood Zionism  for  the  first  time,  and 
they  are  now  ready  to  join  the  organi- 
zation. 

On  Friday  evening,  November  13th, 
Dr.  Levin  occupied  the  pulpit  at  the 
Adath  Jeshurun  Synagogue,  which  was 
under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  Adath 
Jeshurun  and  Mishka  Tifileh  congrega- 
tions. He  delivered  an  address  on  the 
influence  of  Zionism  upon  the  Jews  of 
the  world  over,  as  well  as  the  new  life 
in  Palestine.  He  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  the  audience. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  November 
1 5th,  was  the  meeting  which  aroused 
the  greatest  enthusiasm  among  the 
Jewish  people  in  the  community  of 
Chelsea,  which  took  place  at  Gordon's 
Theatre,  and  was  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  and  a  number  of  people  had 
to  be  turned  away.  Dr.  Levin  and  Mr. 
Brandeis  delivered  addresses.  They  re- 
ceived great  ovations.  The  meeting 
was  presided  over  by  David  A.  Lourie 
of  Chelsea.  Mr.  Brandeis  spoke  in  very 
strong  terms  of  the  opportunities  that 
have  come  to  the  Jews  in  Palestine. 
He  said  we  should  stand  united  and 
work  like  one  man.  Dr.  Levin  was 
equally  received  with  great  enthusiasm. 
He  spoke  on  Zionism  in  general,  as  well 
as  about  the  new  life  in  Palestine.  Over 
$1,100  was  subscribed  for  the  fund. 

The  winding  up  of  this  tour  was  on 
Sunday  evening,  when  the  Zion  Associa- 
tion of  Greater  Boston  tendered  a  ban- 
quet at  Horticultural  Hall  to  Mr.  Bran- 
deis and  Dr.  Levin.  It  was  attended  by 
some  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Jewish  community,  and  Mr.  Brandeis 
was  greeted  as  the  man  of  the  hour, 
who   has    come   to    redeem    the   Jewish 


THE     MACCAB^AN 


197 


people.  This  banquet  was  not  called 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds,  but 
simply  to  give  a  number  of  the  men  the 
opportunity  to  meet  Dr.  Levin  and  Mr. 
Brandeis  personally.  A  number  of  peo- 
ple who  were  not  affiliated  with  the 
Zionist  movement  before  have  signed 
membership  cards  for  the  Zion  Associa- 
tion of  Greater  Boston. 

A  second  tour  is  now  being  arranged 
for  Dr.  Levin  in  New  England.  There 
is  such  a  great  demand  for  him  now  in 
every  Jewish  community  in  the  New 
England  states  that  the  committee  in 
charge  at  Boston  is  at  a  loss  to  fill  all 
the  engagements,  and  will  probably 
have  to  extend  his  tour  for  some  weeks. 
Dr.  Levin  left  Boston  Monday  morning 
for  Chicago. 


day  Eve),  which,  according  to  present 
indications,  promises  to  be  a  great  suc- 
cess. 


Emunath   Zion   Circle   Report 

The  last  few  meetings  which  the 
Emunath  Zion  Circle  held  were  char- 
acteristic of  the  progress  which  it  has 
made. since  its  origination,  almost  three 
years  ago.  The  speakers  at  these  meet- 
ings are  noteworthy.  Mr.  Louis  Lip- 
sky  gave  an  informal  talk  on  Zionism. 
Mr.  Louis  Berman  of  the  Jewish  The- 
ological Seminary  spoke  on  the  subject 
of  the  National  Fund,  which  was  both 
interesting  and  instructive.  Dr.  Zeff 
also  addressed  the  club  at  one  of  these 
meetings.  At  their  last  meeting  Dr. 
Kepelowitz  and  Rabbi  Goldstein,  their 
able  director,  were  the  speakers  of  the 
evening.  When  the  Provisional  Com- 
mittee asked  for  help  in  the  present 
crisis,  the  Emunath  Zion  Circle  proved 
equal  to  the  occasion.  The  efforts  of 
Mr.  Walder,  president,  and  Miss 
Chaves,  vice-president,  in  this  matter 
are  commendable. 

On  Sunday,  December  13th,  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  Emunath 
Zion  Circle,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Congregation,  gave  a  Chanukah  Festi- 
val at  the  Emunath  Israel  Congrega- 
tion, 301  West  29th  Street,  New  York 
City.  Among  other  prominent  persons 
who  addressed  the  audience  was  Mr. 
Charles  Cowen,  representing  the  Fed- 
eration of  American  Zionists,  who  spoke 
on  this  occasion.  An  entertaining  pro- 
gram was  carried  out. 

The  Club  will  hold  its  annual  ball  on 
February  21,  1915  (Washington's  Birth- 


Madam  Pevsner  in  Johnstown,  Pa. 

The  Jewish  Community  of  Johnstown, 
Pa.,  has,  through  the  untiring  efforts 
of  the  Tikvath  Zion  Society,  in  the  past 
five  years  had  an  almost  continuous 
series  of  lectures,  visits  by  prominent 
Zionists,  concerts,  balls,  celebrations 
and  anniversaries,  and  this  month  cli- 
maxed by  a  visit  from  Madam  Pevsner. 

Sunday,  December  13th,  a  concert 
was  arranged  by  the  local  Talmud 
Torah,  together  with  the  Tikvath  Zion 
Society,  to  which  Madam  Pevsner  was 
invited. 

She  spoke  Sunday  evening  to  the  en- 
tire Jewish  community  here  in  the  Ro- 
def  Sholem  Synagogue.  Her  address 
was  received  with  unbounded  enthusi- 
asm and  created  such  a  marked  impres- 
sion that  the  audience  insisted  upon  her 
remaining  for  another  lecture  the  next 
day. 

Monday  evening,  December  14th, 
Madam  Pevsner  spoke  to  her  audience 
in  both  English  and  Yiddish  and  in  a 
final  appeal  urged  the  Jewish  women  to 
organize  an  Hadassah  Chapter.  About 
fifty  women  responded  and  immediately 
organized  the  Daughters  of  Zion  Hadas- 
sah Chapter  of  Johnstown. 

A  number  of  subscribers  for  THE 
MACCAB^EAN  and  Yiddishe  Folk  were 
secured. 


Zionists  Active  at  Richmond,  Va. 

The  local  Zionists  have  organized 
themselves  under  the  name  of  "The 
Herzl  Zionist  Club  of  the  Y.  M.  H.  A.," 
and  are  showing  great  activity  under 
the  leadership  of  their  president,  Dr. 
L.  Karp. 

Mass  meetings  and  Zionist  festivals 
are  arranged  bi-weekly  and  a  thorough 
study  of  Zionism  and  general  problems 
pertaining  to  Jews  is  successfully  pur- 
sued, bringing  forth  great  interest  from 
the  members  and  the  Jewish  community 
at  large. 

The  main  work  of  the  Zionist  Club 
at  this  present  critical  moment  is  to 
raise  funds  for  the  sufferers  of  the 
European  war.  An  enthusiastic  volun- 
teer committee  was  appointed,  consist- 


198 


THE     MACCAB^EAN 


ing  of  the  following  members: 

Misses:  Rachel  Leah  Lovenstein, 
Florence  Gerson,  Sarah  Gerson,  Rebecca 
Forman,  Anna  Ehrstein,  Annie  Forman, 
Lil lye  Kantrovitz,  Dorah  and  Marion 
Sharove. 

Messrs:  Abe  Marks,  Louis  Levensohn 
and  Sam  Shorove. 

While  the  ultimate  aim  is  to  raise 
$500  at  present,  the  first  $100  has  been 
sent  to  Dr.  J.  L.  Magnes  of  New  York, 
to  forward  same  for  the  Palestinian 
Provisional  Fund,  the  committee  intend- 
ing to  raise  the  balance  within  the  next 
few  months. 

The  next  Zionist  Festival  will  take 
place  on  Sunday,  November  15th,  at  8 
o'clock  p.  m.,  at  the  Sir  Moses  Monte- 
fiore  Temple,  the  proceeds  of  which  will 
go  towards  the  Relief  Fund. 

The  officers  of  the  Zionist  Club  are 
as  follows:  Dr.  L.  Karp,  president; 
Miss  Bettie  Chodowski,  vice-president; 
Miss  Florence  Gerson,  treasurer;  Miss 
Selma  Sonnenberg,  secretary. 

The  Jewish  community  is  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  the  activities  of  the  Club. 


the  sense  of  this  society  that  steps 
be  taken  towards  the  organization  of 
an  Intercollegiate  body  in  order  that 
all  students  may  work  together  in  sup- 
port  of  the  Provisional   Committee. 


RESOLUTIONS     ADOPTED     BY     THE 
HARVARD    ZIONIST    SOCIETY 

Whereas,  The  great  war  in  Europe 
has  deprived  Zionism  of  its  material 
forces  in  Europe,  as  well  as  of  the 
enthusiasm  and  devotion  of  the  univer- 
sity students  and  of  its  other  adher- 
ents in  Europe,   and 

Whereas,  A  provisional  Committee 
has  been  organized  in  America  under 
the  leadership  of  our  fellow-American 
and  fellow  son  of  Harvard,  Louis  D. 
Brandeis,  to  carry  on  the  work  of  Zion- 
ism which  the  war  has  interrupted  in 
Europe,  and 

Whereas,  Zionism,  aiming  as  it  does 
to  effect  the  renaissance  of  Jewish  cul- 
ture, appeals  to  us  especially  as  col- 
lege men, 

Be  it  Resolved,  That  the  Harvard 
Zionist  Society  conceives  it  its  solemn 
duty  to  pledge  its  allegiance  and  sup- 
port to  the  Provisional  Committee  in 
the  work  it  has  undertaken.  That  it 
is  the  sense  of  this  society  that  our 
fellow  students  at  other  American  uni- 
versities muster  their  forces  to  the  or- 
ganized support  of  the  cause. 

Be    it    further    Resolved,    That    it    is 


DON  ABARBANEL  CAMP,  No.  49. 

The  installation  of  our  newly  elected 
officers  took  place  this  Wednesday 
evening,  December  2,  1914,  in  a  very 
elaborate  manner.  Our  Nasi,  Hon.  Jo- 
seph Barondess,  offiiciated,  and  his  ear- 
nest words  of  advice  and  urging  of  a 
greater  activity,  found  an  echo  in  the 
hearts  of  the  tried  officers  of  our  Camp. 

We  have  initiated  the  following 
new   members: 

Mr.  Max  Shapiro  (superintendent  of 
the  Hebrew  Home  df"  the  Aged),  Mr. 
Herman  Panoff,  Mr.  Roman  Stone,  Mr. 
Harry  Deitch,  Mr.  Harry  Strongin  and 
Mr.  Edward  Barondess.  The  Nasi  who 
conducted  the  ceremonies,  was  eloquent 
in  his  outlining  the  duties  of  the  Jew 
and  especially  of  the  Zionist.  The  af- 
fectionate words  and  the  enthusiasm 
of  this  strictly  Jewish  ceremony,  should 
remain  impressed  upon  the  mind  of 
the   new   candidates,   everlastingly. 

Our  member,  the  very  well  known 
lecturer,  Dr.  Samuel  Katz,  promised  to 
lecture  at  our  next  public  meeting,  on 
"Hebraic  and  English  Languages,"  and 
Counsellor  Isaac  Allen,  our  chairman 
of  the  Lecture  Committee,  assured  us 
that  he  will  report  a  full  program,  at 
our  next  regular  meeting. 

After  Mr.  Victor  Schwarz  made  a 
strong  appeal  to  the  members  for  an 
energetic  Shekel  collection  during  the 
coming  Chanukah  week,  the  meeting 
adjourned  while  the  members  sang  the 

"Hatikwah."        s 

Zionist   Council    of   Greater    New   York. 

The  annual  convention  of  the  Council 
was  held  on  Sunday,  December  27th,  at 
the  Broadway  Central  Hotel.  The  ses- 
sions continued  all  day.  Mr.  Louis  D. 
Brandeis  attended  and  addressed  the 
gathering.  A  new  constitution  was 
adopted  and  the  following  officers 
elected. 

Max  Perlman  was  elected  president  in 
place  of  Henry  J.  Eiser;  Israel  J.  Wolf, 
vice-president;  Morris  Kurz,  financial 
secretary,  and  William  G.  Lewis,  corre- 
sponding secretary.